Dementia Australia’s Cutting Edge Technology Praised In The 2022 Future of Ageing Awards

Dementia Australia’s status as a pioneer in dementia education using cutting edge technology was recognised this week at the 2022 Future of Aging Awards with two outstanding achievements.

An artificial intelligence avatar named “Talk With Ted” was awarded first place in the Dementia Care category for it’s ability to teach care workers how to better communicate and care for people with dementia.

The judges awarded Talk with Ted the highest score of any entry in all categories, calling it a “hugely impressive program.”

Ask Annie, a mobile app that helps care workers provide better support to people living with dementia, won the Technology – Business category.

Judges described Ask Annie as a “great concept and practical innovation.”

The Creative Dementia Workshops run by the Lithgow Community Alliance, were also highly commended in the community engagement category with judges praising it as “a very useful community engagement project based on sound evidence and good values”.

Run by Inside Ageing, the awards recognise leadership and innovation in aged care

Dementia Australia Chief Operating Officer Anthony Boffa says it was an honour to have Dementia Australia’s commitment to using technology to improve the lives of people living with dementia recognised.

“Dementia Australia is a world-leader in developing innovative technology learning tools that change people’s understanding of dementia. “

“With that knowledge they change their practice in the workplace which then improves the lives of people living with dementia,”

“These awards demonstrate Dementia Australia’s commitment to supporting people living with dementia and enabling them to live as well as possible.” says Mr Boffa

Ask Annie was funded by a Gandel Foundation multi-year Major grant. Talk with Ted took three years to develop and was funded by the Rosemary Norman Foundation.

Both Ask Annie and Talk with Ted were developed by Dementia Australia with Deakin University’s Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute.

Having won the Service Transformation category for Communities of Practice and Community Engagement award for Dementia-Friendly Communities in 2021 the win builds on Dementia Australia’s previous success in the Future of Ageing Awards.