Julie speaks with Professor Sunil Bhar about the Swinburne National Telehealth Counselling and Support Service for Aged Care. Sunil tells us about his background in private practice and research, as well as what inspired him to focus on Aged Care, both working with older people and in helping to train the workforce that is sensitive to the needs of older adults.
Julie and Sunil discuss why it’s important to be training and up-skilling psychologists to work in Aged Care, why many of the tools in psychology for other populations are not appropriate for Aged Care and the more specific measures that have be developed in the last decade that are specific to this older population.
They also cover the various reasons it can be more difficult to screen Aged Care residents for mental health conditions.
Sunil then explains the Telehealth Counselling program through Swinburn University, including who it’s for, how it works and how people can get access to it. Julie and Sunil also explore the benefits for those receiving services through Telehealth.
They finish their conversation discussing reminiscence and life review therapy, and the progress we are making both as an industry and a society in recognising the emotional needs of older adults.
For more information about the Swinburne National Telehealth Counselling go to www.swin.edu.au/telehealthcounselling

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