ACDHS Update – August 2025

Aug 26, 2025 | 0 comments

Welcome to the August edition of the ACDHS Update!

This month we bring you the latest sector news, new opportunities, and inspiring highlights from across the Allied Health community.

 

IN THIS ISSUE

  • Feature Story: Transforming Aged Care: UC’s Allied Health Program Making a Difference
  • Strategic Issues & Policy Focus
  • Research Round-Up
  • Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Spotlight
  • Primary Healthcare Spotlight
  • Events, Conferences & Grants
  • Jobs Board

Feature Story

Transforming Aged Care: UC’s Allied Health Program Making a Difference

The University of Canberra’s Enhanced Allied Health for Older People in Residential Aged Care (EAHOP) program is showing how a new model of care can transform the lives of older Australians while reshaping the way students think about careers in aged care.

Read in full

Piloted at Calvary Haydon Aged Care in Bruce, the program brings together six allied health disciplines – occupational therapy, speech pathology, optometry, dietetics, physiotherapy, and social work – supported by allied health assistants and coordinated by a clinical liaison manager. This unique role has been central to ensuring seamless collaboration between UC’s allied health professionals and the home’s staff, helping the program embed smoothly despite the challenges of creating a new service in a complex care environment.

For residents, the impact has been profound. One participant, Ms Gillian Edwards, had been discharged from hospital rehabilitation after a stroke when her progress was considered to have plateaued. Through the EAHOP program, she received ongoing allied health support that improved her mobility, upper limb function and overall quality of life. Another resident, former school principal Mark Smith, lives with significant visual impairment and feared he would never realise his dream of compiling an anthology of his favourite Henry Lawson poems. Occupational therapy students recognised this as his most meaningful goal and worked with him over an eight-week placement to produce the manuscript exactly as he had envisioned it. “They were wonderful to work with and a credit to your University,” Mark said.

Students themselves found the placements equally transformative. A speech pathology student described a pivotal moment when theory met practice: “In my second or third week, I did some breathing exercises, and it worked immediately – the client’s voice was loud. It was a light bulb moment that what we were doing had purpose and immediate impact.”

Others noted how their expectations shifted. “I probably went in thinking, oh, they’re much older and they will probably be grumpy about having younger people teaching them things. And then I had to change my thinking to I’m not teaching, I’m actually engaging with them. In the end, none of them were grumpy, in fact they were all lovely. I’m finding this very meaningful, and I feel like I’m making a difference,” one student reflected.

For some, the experience has been career-changing. “Actually, I am now interested in working with older adults or in aged care or even in the retirement villages,” another student shared, highlighting the program’s role in inspiring a new generation of health professionals.

Although coordinating across multiple disciplines, managing COVID-19 outbreaks and aligning with existing systems presented challenges, the program’s design proved resilient. With residents at the centre of care and students immersed in real-world practice, the outcomes have been both clinically and personally significant.

Encouraged by its early success, UC has submitted two Medical Research Future Fund applications to extend the program to additional aged care homes, including one in a rural area. The long-term ambition is to refine and scale this innovative model so it can be applied widely across aged care.
By restoring independence, nurturing purpose, and deepening connections between generations, the EAHOP program is offering a hopeful new vision of what ageing well can look like in Australia.

Image supplied by UC Media – A UC allied health student running a physiotherapy “Sunbeam” session with Calvary Haydon residents

Strategic Issues & Policy Focus

All six Strategic Issues Groups have been scheduled to meet before the end of August.
So far, the following groups have met:

  • AH Teaching, including WIL, placements, and student clinics
  • Rural, Remote and First Nations Workforce
  • AH Research

In addition, meetings have been scheduled with New Zealand Academics in September to progress the development of the NZ Membership Group.

Each group is actively identifying priority areas of focus and ways of working, while also exploring areas of overlap with other Strategic Issues Groups. This collaborative approach is helping to ensure alignment and maximise impact across ACDHS’s strategic initiatives.

If you would like more information or to join one of the groups, please contact Anne Keohane at strategicsupport@acdhs.edu.au. 

Research Roundup

$3 million for international collaborations in Indigenous health research

NHMRC is investing $3 million for international collaborations undertaking research that globally advances the field of neurodegeneration among Indigenous populations.

Two Australian-Canadian research teams will receive funding under the 2024 NHMRC-Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA): Indigenous Health Research grant opportunity.

Read more here

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Spotlight

University of New South Wales:

UNSW continues to shine in their Mental Health First Aid program, with an impressive 74% of their initially allocated 468 vouchers now completed. To date, 294 students have successfully finished the e-Learning modules. This strong uptake reflects UNSW’s commitment to equipping Health Professional students with the skills and knowledge to support mental health in their communities.

Resources are available at: https://acdhs.edu.au/mental-health-first-aid/, or contact Leonie directly if you need tailored support – such as suggested student emails or a copy of your unique course registration links.

Leonie Yeoman – leonie@acdhs.edu.au

Primary Healthcare Spotlight

Sarah Serjeant uses her expertise as a dietitian to heal people from the inside out.
In primary health care, she’s helping patients recover from substance use by fuelling their body and mind.

“It’s so rewarding to watch them improve and be part of that journey,” says Sarah Serjeant.

Watch video
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Events, Conferences and Grants

Opportunities
  • Ability Action Australia Graduate Program
    Applications Open For: Mid-2025 and 2026 intakes
    Program Length: 12 months
    Features: Offers structured support and career pathways for new allied health graduates.
Grants
Events and Conferences

Jobs Board

QLD
SA
WA
ACT
NSW
TAS
OVERSEAS

Feedback & Engagement

We value your input! Share your feedback and suggestions with us – admin@acdhs.edu.au.

Have a story or achievement to share? Get in touch to be featured in next month’s edition.

Thank you for reading the ACDHS Update. We look forward to bringing you more inspiring stories and valuable updates next month.

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We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Australia’s lands and waters and their enduring connection to Country. As an education and health sciences association, we recognise the vital role of Indigenous knowledge in shaping holistic approaches to learning, wellness, and healthcare. We honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, past and present, and their custodianship of knowledge embedded in the land. In paying our respects to Elders, we commit to fostering cultural understanding and partnerships for equitable and inclusive education and healthcare.