It’s paradoxical that Anne Oosterbroek has committed her working life to vulnerable older people when she actually grew up without grandparents.
In her new role as Mackay HHS Nurse Navigator Cognitive Advocate, Anne is focussed on helping care, manage and support people that may present with cognitive impairment, dementia and/or a possible delirium.
Dementia and aged care funding given by the NQPHN to the General Practice Liaison Unit was to address the need for comprehensive, clear and accessible dementia support pathways across the Mackay HHS. Anne’s role as part of this work aims to boost system integration and reduce fragmentation and barriers to coordinate the care of patients across their dementia journey and provide support with referral pathways for them, their carers and families.
“My position focuses on patients who are in hospital after they have presented for other reasons including baseline health concerns and issues such as falls,” Anne said.
“We look at the existing pathways for people with cognitive impairment and dementia, to assess their effectiveness and streamline their use in the patient’s journey in hospital and back into the home or transitioning to care.
“I’m really a part of a chain that can add value to what is already being done for their health concerns.”
Anne is not unfamiliar to applying a person-centred, holistic approach to mental health, complex co-morbidities and cognitive decline.
She has spent 18 years working as a mental health nurse and for the last 10 years has been part of the unit’s older persons team, predominantly working with people who have complex medical conditions and cognitive decline.
“That is where I really honed my skills in care co-ordination of older people,” she said.
“The ultimate goal in this project role as Nurse Navigator Cognitive Advocate is that when people present or are admitted to hospital, we have a standardised and consistent dementia pathway we follow, no matter what ward they are in.”
Anne considers it’s a privilege to work with vulnerable older people and help them navigate their healthcare journey sometimes organising and attending specialist appointments, conducting cognitive assessments when required and offering explanations of care planning and support options.
“My mother always thought it was sad we didn’t have grandparents as kids – she always wished she could adopt grandparents for us,” Anne said.
“Working alongside others to support people with cognitive concerns especially as they age is such valuable work. It’s certainly not an area everyone wants to work in, but I think it’s an incredibly important one.
“People deserve to transition into old age with minimal stress from declining health and declining function.
“They often suffer in silence and don’t let people know they actually need help.
“A dementia diagnosis can be absolutely life changing and it’s a very emotive time for them and their loved ones on top of their existing health concerns.
“A lot of older people get to the point with their medical issues and co-morbidities that they just don’t want another diagnosis and with dementia, it’s often associated with the potential loss of independence too.
“But it’s important for future planning around their care and as their cognitive decline progresses, they need additional care embedded into that.
“When they are first presenting to hospital with health issues, that’s when the support for them should be starting.
“If they do get a dementia diagnosis later on, we can increase their levels of support and not have to start the process then.”
Anne started in the project role at the Mackay Base Hospital in July and is looking forward to working collaboratively with teams and units across the health service to improve health outcomes for patients who may be impacted by cognitive concerns by increasing the flow of information for their care planning.
“People who have been diagnosed with dementia deserve our time and care,” Anne said.
“For older people we don’t want them to fear ageing as it’s a privilege not everybody gets.”
