New app under development to help seniors age in place

Carers, and people they care for, have joined with technology experts at a workshop in Brisbane to progress the development of a mobile app that will help the carers of older people better connect and share resources.

Minister for Disability Services and Seniors Coralee O’Rourke today congratulated Brisbane firm The Ageing Revolution on receiving an $80,500 Advancing Queensland Age-Friendly Community grant from the Palaszczuk Government to develop the app – called Our Care Journal.

“The Palaszczuk Government wants to give our seniors the capacity to age in the place of their choice for as long as possible,” Mrs O’Rourke said.

“This means we need to look at effective ways to help carers look after the needs of older people in the home for longer – and this is just what Our Care Journal intends to do.

“Carers make a significant contribution to Queensland’s economy and social fabric, yet many undertake their caring roles in isolation and with only minimal support.

“Our Care Journal will make it easier to record vital information about the person being cared for, such as medications, appointments, contacts, nutrition, habits and preferences.

“It will also make it much easier for carers to coordinate their activities and obtain support when they need it.”

The Ageing Revolution is currently recruiting carers and the people they care for to participate in co-design workshops for the app.

The workshop was held today (Tuesday 20 March 2018) from 10am to 2.00pm at QUT’s Kelvin Grove campus.

“We will be conducting the workshops in partnership with researchers from the QUT Design Lab,” said Leonie Sanderson, Director of The Ageing Revolution.

“These workshops will be essential to ensure the app fits the needs of real people in the real world.

“Caring better for older people in their home for longer delivers many benefits at the individual and social levels.

“It can increase the well-being of ageing Queenslanders and make our communities more age friendly.

“While our aim is to help ageing Queenslanders, there is absolutely no reason why the app could not be used in other situations such as people with special needs who need to coordinate their own care in their home.”

Older people and their carers who wish to register for the co-design workshops should go to The Ageing Revolution’s website www.ourcarejournal.com and follow the prompts.

ENDS

Media Contact: Benjamin Mulcahy 0419 562 389