Successful Conference for Professionals and Caregivers
The Conference for Professionals and Caregivers Supporting the Health and Wellbeing of Adults with Down Syndrome took place on Friday, 7th of November.
There was a fantastic array of speakers on the day, in the beautiful AIB conference room. The day begun with Optometrist, Lynda McGivney Nolan speaking on vision and eye health. Professor Sean Kennelly spoke then on Down Syndrome Regression Disorder followed by Dr Antoinette O’Connor who spoke passionately about Dementia. This Health Awareness morning session finished from a lecture on Post Diagnostic Dementia Supports and Dementia Specific environments by Professor Mary McCarron who spoke about the importance of identity and dignity.
Session two was all about Living Well. Dr Eimear McGlinchey began the session discussing the importance of maintaining brain health. She was followed by Dr Séan Healy from UL who talked about Accessibility in Healthcare and The Rosemary Project. Sandra Ferncombe from the HSE informed the audience all about the value of a Health Passport followed by Claire Duffy from Family Carers Ireland who did a breakdown on the Carers Allowance and the new Long-Term Carers Contribution scheme. Dr Owen Doody from UL then finished off the session by discussing Accessibility in Healthcare.
The final session of the day was on Ageing Well. Professor Mary McCarron spoke again on the IDS-TILDA Journey in Advancing Knowledge on Ageing and Intellectual Disability. Dr Louise Lynch then spoke about the importance of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour, the impact of increasing the step count and regular movement. Stephanie Corrigan, a PhD student from Trinity, discussed her thesis research on Menopause and Women’s Health on people with Intellectual Disabilities. Dr Maire O’Dwyer spoke about prescribing medications to older adults with Down syndrome and Katrina Byrne then spoke about Oral Health.
The day ended with a discussion on parents and carers concerns, they offered up suggestions and these discussion topics will help feed into the strategy for the next few years in Down Syndrome Ireland.
The lunch was funded by the Health Research Board (CES 2024-018)
Thank you to everyone who came to the conference. We hope that everyone got something out of this conference. Over the next year, we will be creating documents and easy reads on each topic that was discussed at this event.
