Award winning aged care provider, Whiddon, has announced positive ageing expert, Dr Jennifer Hewitt, has joined their team. Dr Hewitt is a practicing physiotherapist and clinical researcher with a passion for delivering best practice health and wellbeing programs.
Dr Hewitt was last week awarded a Global Ageing Trailblazer Award at the Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards. With more than 200 submissions from 17 countries, Dr Hewitt was recognised as one of the leading trailblazers in ageing in the Asia Pacific Region for “multi-disciplinary leadership in ageing that inspires change in their home country.”
6 June 2023
Whiddon’s CEO, Chris Mamarelis said, “We are excited to have Jennie join our team at Whiddon, strengthening the incredible expertise of our Research and Positive Ageing Team, led by Karn Nelson. Jennie has already worked closely with us on our new Exercise 4 Life Program, which is seeing incredible outcomes for our residents and clients in the areas of Pain Management and Re-ablement. We look forward to seeing the continuing difference Jennie will make as part of our team”.
In addition to her recent award, Dr Hewitt has achieved the ACSA National Lifetime Achievement Award, and a National Commendation for Better Practice from the Aged Care Quality Agency for her work on an exercise program for residents of aged care that resulted in a 55% reduction in falls. This work was published internationally and attained recognition for the paper “most likely to influence policy and practice”, from the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.
Additionally, Dr Hewitt appeared as an expert witness at the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, advocating for residents to have improved access to rehabilitation and re-ablement programs. The Federal Department of Health appointed Jennie as Technical Advisor on the implementation of her falls prevention program (called the Sunbeam Program) in more than 100 aged care facilities nationally.
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About Whiddon:
- Whiddon is an award-winning care provider with residential care, community care and retirement villages across New South Wales and Queensland.
- From our philanthropic beginnings, we have grown into a large not-for-profit organisation with more than 2,300 customers and over 2,000 employees.
- We’ve been providing exceptional care to older Australians across regional, rural and remote NSW and QLD for almost 75 years. Our strong presence in regional, rural and remote NSW and QLD sets us at the heart of our local communities, both as an employer and aged care provider.
- Whiddon is passionate about enriching lives and keeping older people connected to what matters most to them in life. We aim to really understand each person through building deep relationships with them, their family and their community.
- Our approach to care and wellbeing is holistic. Staying connected, active and feeling part of a community are essential to wellbeing.
- To find out more about Whiddon, please visit whiddon.com.au
About Beyond Empathy:
- Beyond Empathy (BE) collaborates with communities across Australia to shift perceptions and generate positive social change through the process of creating and sharing art
- Through their programs, participants gain new skills and build confidence
- As they make artwork together, they create a common language which enables deeper connections with their community and peers.
- To find out more about Beyond Empathy, visit https://www.be.org.au/
For further information or access to Dr Hewitt, please contact:
