Across Australia, occupational therapists working with older adults are facing a familiar tension: despite growing clinical knowledge about dementia, many practitioners still leave interactions feeling they could have connected better, reduced distress sooner, or supported independence more effectively.

It is not a knowledge gap, it is a practice gap.

With more than half of people living in residential aged care experiencing dementia and numbers in the community continuing to climb, clinicians are increasingly recognising that traditional models of care no longer meet the complexity of contemporary practice. What is emerging instead is a shift toward relational, neuroscience informed, person-centred approaches that prioritise dignity, engagement and meaningful participation.

This shift sits at the heart of the upcoming Transforming Dementia Care with Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach to Care workshop, delivered through Occupational Therapy Australia in partnership with Thrive Aged Care Consultants founders Kate Lamont and Kathy Kirby. Together Kate and Kathy bring more than four decades of experience across healthcare, aged care, leadership, quality improvement and clinical governance.

Rather than introducing another theoretical framework, the workshop invites occupational therapists to reconsider a fundamental question:

What if responsive behaviours are not problems to manage but communication to understand?

The Positive Approach to Care (PAC), developed by internationally recognised occupational therapist Teepa Snow, approaches dementia differently. Instead of focusing primarily on deficits, PAC is evidence informed and centres on understanding how neurological changes alter perception, communication and behaviour.

The premise is simple but powerful: when clinicians change their approach, the person’s response changes.

Understanding how a changing brain experiences the world allows clinicians to replace confrontation with connection, reduce distress, and maintain functional independence for longer.

Instead of asking:

• How do I stop this behaviour?

Clinicians learn to ask:

• What is the person experiencing right now?

PAC emphasises practical strategies therapists can immediately implement addressing positioning, communication style, environmental cues, sensory understanding and graded support techniques aligned with preserved abilities. The training is experiential and hands on, supporting therapists to practise with confidence.

The PAC approach aligns closely with occupational therapy’s core philosophy, enabling participation through adaptation rather than control.