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Copyright © 2024, ACTAH. All Rights Reserved.

About Us

Our goal is to ensure that each resident living in an aged care facility is in the best health they can be. Our first step is to ensure that we screen and recognise residents who are at risk of malnutrition and look at innovative ways to prevent this chronic disease. Our team feel ‘it’s time’ to act to improve the health and well-being and therefore quality of life of older Australians.

Research Team

Dr Marie-Claire O’Shea

Dr Marie-Claire O’Shea is an Advanced Accredited Practicing Dietitian with over 20 years of clinical experience, focusing on nutrition for older Australians. Combining her clinical and research skills, Marie-Claire leads the collaboration with our aged care partners. She has dedicated her research to finding innovative and sustainable ways to nurture and care for older Australians.

Dr Jonathan Foo

Dr Jonathan Foo is a physiotherapist, educator, and researcher at Monash University. He is passionate about promoting high-value care through system change and developing capacity in the health workforce. Jon is a co-lead for the NuW-Age research group expertise in research design, statistical analysis, and economic evaluation.

Professor Judy Bauer

Professor Judy Bauer is Head, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics & Food, Monash University, and a Fellow and Life Member of Dietitians Australia. She is recognized internationally for innovative clinical nutrition translational research with a specific interest in malnutrition and oncology. Judy has research funding >$9.3M, 155 publications, >16,800 citations and H-index 62.

Associate Professor Christian Osadnik

Christian is a physiotherapist with broad clinical and research expertise that centres upon high quality evidence-based personalised medicine and rehabilitation. He leads several programs of research in areas such as chronic lung disease and frailty in his ResPIRE laboratory in Melbourne. He is Director of Research in the Department of Physiotherapy at Monash University, has received >$5M in competitive research funding and has >80 publications. 

Professor Lauren Williams

Lauren Williams has been a proud dietitian for 38 years, spending most of her career as an academic. She was Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Griffith University until late 2023 when she retired and is now in an honorary Professorial role. Lauren remains active in her research, focusing on the social aspects of food and nutrition.

Dr Ursula Kellett

Dr Ursula Kellett is Registered Nurse and specialist educator and researcher in the field of Gerontological Nursing at Griffith University. Her research interests focus on staff-family-resident participatory approaches to dementia care in RACFs. She has a passion for human research ethics bringing expertise to the team as a Health Group Research Ethics Advisor on the Griffith University Himan Resource Ethics Committee.

Dr Katina Corones-Watkins

Katina is an academic and researcher at Griffith University and has over 19 years of cardiology nursing experience. Katina’s research interests include enhancing outcomes for patients with coronary heart disease and vulnerable populations. Katina’s strengths are in mixed-methods research. Katina has lectured in qualitative research for over two years at a postgraduate level.

Ms Clare Barrett

Clare Barrett has worked clinically in aged care facilities for the past 15yrs as a Dietitian. Clare values the improvements that ACTAH aims to bring to aged care and has now commenced her PhD as part of the research team’s work on malnutrition in aged care.

Ms Julie Dundon

Julie Dundon is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian and a member of the Aged Care Quality and Safety Council. She has extensive experience in residential aged care settings from clinical care to management of services and interventions, and student supervision. Julie provides expert guidance and leadership in nutrition care for residents, along with setting-specific implementation advice.

Melanie Roberts

Melanie Roberts is an occupational therapist with extensive professional experience as a clinician, educator, manager, and researcher. She has research expertise in project management, qualitative approaches, working in partnership with diverse stakeholders and in collaboration with people with lived experience.

Residential Opinions of Ageing Reference Group (ROAR)

Professor Lauren Williams

Professor Lauren Williams has been a proud dietitian for 38 years, spending most of her career as an academic. She was Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Griffith University until late 2023 when she retired and is now in an honorary Professorial role. Lauren remains active in her research, focusing on the social aspects of food and nutrition. She is the Chair of the ROAR group.

Gwenda Darling

Gwenda is a proud Palawa woman. She is an Aboriginal woman who has living experience of Dementia (diagnosed 11 years ago). Gwenda brings experience of weight loss being attributed to Dementia (when there are other causes), and can provide personal experience that people’s tastes change, and are also influenced by personal and past food history.

Amber Kelaart

Amber Kelaart is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian (Adv APD) who is a passionate and dynamic leader with extensive experience in the healthcare, primary care and not for profit settings. Amber is committed to optimising person-centred outcomes by supporting the uptake of innovative, tailored and evidence-based initiatives. She has led numerous large-scale state government funded projects of varying complexity and is particularly skilled at problem solving, strategic planning, program evaluation and stakeholder engagement. Amber has extensive experiencing in providing multi-modal education solutions to a range of health professionals.

Stephen Hodgkinson

Stephen was a chef for 20 years, and then graduated from Dietetics and Nutrition at Griffith University. He now works as Dietitian in aged care in Tasmania. He works as a clinician but also with the Food Services component of aged care facilities.

Rosemary Seam

Rosemary lives in an aged care residence in NSW, she made the decision to move from a retirement village to an aged care residence 3 years ago just before COVID struck. Rosemary has a good understanding of the experience of living in an aged care residence.

Vanessa Schuldt

Vanessa has been a Dietitian for over 28 years and is currently a Senior Policy Officer for Dietitians Australia. Leading the organisation’s aged care advocacy work, Vanessa works strategically and collaboratively with members, key stakeholders and decision makers to improve the quality of life of older Australians through access to best-practice nutrition care, appealing nutritious food and a pleasant dining experience.

Danijela Hlis

Danijela has a background in Human Resources and Industrial Relations. When she became full time carer for her parents she needed to return to study: dementia, bi cultural social support, and Diversional therapy. In her work, she still witnesses many instances of unacceptable food choices and meal settings for people with dementia, those non-verbal, those with swallowing difficulties, those who revert to mother tongue. Danijela has a focus on the needs of people from culturally and linguistically diverse background (this theme features in her book Forget -me-nots) and is a Dementia Australia Advocate of many years.

Athena Ermides

Athena is the CEO of Good Shepherd Lodge Ltd in Mackay, an organisation who have been providing aged care services to older Australians since 1974. Athena has managed residential aged care facilities for over 30 years and has experience as a consultant to a range of aged care providers, as well as with Advisory Boards. Athena has also been working with older Australians from a range of cultural and linguistic communities for many years and is particularly interested in the importance of appropriate meals and drinks for those from diverse cultures.

Jacqui McLean

Jacqui is a Registered Nurse and works for Arcare (Aged Care Provider) as a Clinical Education Manager. Jacqui is interested in piloting strategies to support mealtime in Dementia specific areas of aged care facilities. Jacqui has lived experience of having a parent in a residential aged care with Dementia who is losing weight.

Dr Melanie Roberts

Dr Melanie Roberts is an occupational therapy with extensive professional experience as a clinician, educator, manager, and researcher. She has research expertise in project management, qualitative approaches, working in partnership with diverse stakeholders and in collaboration with people with lived experience. Melanie provides administration support to ROAR group.
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Email

actah@griffith.edu.au

Phone

+921 345 6789

Copyright © 2024, ACTAH. All Rights Reserved.