Needs Assessment (Part Two)

Educational Webinar: Conversational panel with health experts

1. Are you or your family wanting more support at home but not sure how to get the help?
2. Do you want to understand more about how you might be able to get publicly funded help?
3. Would you like to evaluate what is required to maximise living independently at home?

Dementia New Zealand is excited to bring you Part 2 of the Needs Assessment webinar we held back in February 2025. Based on the questions asked from the wider community, we will delve deeper into understanding the different types of public funded help that can be provided, such as carer support subsidy, respite and home help.

Hosted by Winifred Henderson (Senior Educator, Dementia New Zealand), we will be joined once again by heath experts Dr Daniel Asquith (General Practitioner), Amy Harrison (Registered Social Worker), and Robyn Harper (Needs Assessor) as well as Needs Assessors from various locations and backgrounds.

The panel discussion will hopefully provide greater insight into what supports might be available and share examples of how carer support subsidy, respite and residential care subsidy might work and who it might help. The health experts may also share general tips and recommendations for people with dementia and their families living in the community.

Date: Friday, 30th May 2025
Time: 10am – 11:30am
Online via Zoom. A recording of this webinar will be emailed to those who registered the week following the live event.

Expert Panelist Profiles:

Dr Daniel Asquith – General Practitioner

I was an archaeologist before I decided to go into medicine. I trained in the UK at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and qualified in 1997 having also carried out postgraduate research in immunology. I spent five years working in hospital and emergency medicine and qualified as a general practitioner in 2005 in Taunton, Somerset. At that point, I first came to Whitianga on a working holiday. My family and I liked it so much, we returned in 2007 and have been here since.

Amy Harrison – Registered Social Worker

Amy currently works as a Needs Assessor/Service Coordinator for Disability Support Link, Health New Zealand – Waikato. Amy has worked for Disability Support Link since 2009 and  for the last 10 years Amy has been based in Whitianga, covering the Eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula. Within this role Amy assesses need and care plans alongside clients and their families for either home based support services or long term residential care. This may be within the Health of the Older Person (over 65) or long term services Chronic Health Conditions (under 65). Amy and her husband have two teenage children and have close family members living with Dementia.

Robyn Harper – Needs Assessor

Robyn completed a Master of Applied Social Work in 2013. An interest in working with older people led to a career as a Needs Assessor. She has worked for Te Whatu Ora Waitemata and Counties Manukau for 10 years. In the past she has worked with people with dementia in residential care settings and her Masters research project was on caring for people with dementia.