ANZSGM New Zealand Retreat
After a two year COVID-imposed gap, ANZSGM’s annual Retreat was reborn at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds on 3-5 November. Over 120 delegates from across New Zealand, joined by ANZSGM President Professor Vasi Naganathan, attended three days of lectures, workshops and debate at New Zealand’s most important historical site.
The central theme of the meeting was equity: delivering high-quality care to all of New Zealand’s older people regardless of ethnicity, disadvantage and geography. Keynote lectures on issues affecting Maori elders were set amongst clinical updates and accounts of service development.
On Thursday morning trainees took part in a session covering topics including maintaining wellbeing, making the transition to SMO and understanding mental capacity; meanwhile SMOs completed the SPDP3 Educational Supervisor course. This was followed by the formal opening of the conference in the form of a powhiri (ritual of encounter). In this ancient Maori ceremony delegates were welcomed onto the Treaty Grounds by kaumatua (elders) representing the Health Board in Northland.
Setting the scene for the main meeting, Mr Tohe Ashby, a leading practitioner of traditional Maori healing (rongoa), identified five elements underpinning wellbeing in older people: wairua, hinengaro, tinana, whanau, whenua – spirit(uality), mind, body, family and land (home). After a lively debate on dialysis in older people the session concluded with oral presentations of submitted abstracts including some excellent work by our Advanced Trainees. The day closed with drinks, nibbles and conversation at the Welcome Reception.
Friday’s programme was anchored by two keynote speakers. Prof Ngaire Kerse is one of New Zealand’s most influential researchers into older peoples’ health. She presented her work with Dr Jo Hikaka on the Maori experience of Aged Residential Care and set it in the context of demographic change, challenges of equity and opportunities to build better for the future. Later, Dr Makarena Dudley shared her research into Maori understanding of dementia (mate wareware) and her work to develop a culturally appropriate cognitive assessment tool. Clinical updates on stroke, heart failure and rheumatological conditions shared the stage with talks on setting up Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) units and tackling polypharmacy. We also paid tribute to our late friend and colleague Chris Hutchinson.
The Conference Dinner was held at Charlotte’s Kitchen in Paihia, named after the Bay of Islands’ only female pirate. At dinner Prof Naganathan presented Dr Roger Harris with Honorary Life Membership of ANZSGM in recognition of his lifetime of devoted service to the cause of Geriatric Medicine in New Zealand.
After Saturday morning’s AGM, Dr Phil Wood updated us on policy and planning developments for older peoples’ services in New Zealand under the new national service structure. After updates on in-home falls prevention and perioperative delirium prevention the meeting closed, aptly, with Roger Harris introducing the new – but already nationwide – ANZ Fragility Fracture Registry.
Image Courtesy: Juanita Pascual
