Dementia Australia's Ask Annie app now available to all aged care workers
Ask Annie, a free and interactive app developed by Dementia Australia’s Centre for Dementia Learning, is now freely accessible to aged care workers looking to develop their person-centred care for those living with dementia.
The app now includes a new program for Residential Aged Care – Plan Behaviour Support, with an additional four modules and 19 lessons. This includes branched scenarios to provide workers with real world scenarios and decision-making opportunities to learn through trial and error.
Ask Annie now provides workers with a 24/7 resource for behaviour support planning, to ensure best practice, solutions-based thinking, and empathetic delivery of person-centred care.
Since the app was launched in June 2021, there has been more than 20,000 downloads, with 11,200 current active users.
Catherine Horne, General Manager (Clinical) at aged care service NoosaCare, said she appreciates the user-friendly nature of Ask Annie.
“You log in, and in the snap of a finger you’ve got a recommendation for how to address the situation,” she said.
“By helping our team, we are helping the residents and their families.”
A ‘coach in your pocket’
Dr David Sykes, Director Centre for Dementia Learning at Dementia Australia, said that this expansion of the app aims to provide a supportive resource to aged care workers in an accessible way.
“Aged care workers are tasked with such an important job in providing quality care for people living with dementia. Workers need to feel supported and well equipped with relevant training,” he said.
“Ask Annie can provide this support, as a ‘coach in your pocket’ encouraging solutions-based thinking using practical advice that workers can apply to their practice.”
Ask Annie is free to download for both iOS and Android smartphones through the relevant app stores. You can find out more about Ask Annie here, by calling 1300 DEMENTIA (1300 336 368) or by emailing [email protected],au.
Organisations can purchase a monitoring package of Ask Annie to track the progress and training of their staff. To find out more about purchasing a monitoring package, please contact [email protected] for further information.
