"You’re Not Alone"

After 15 years of parish ministry with the Presbyterian Church, moved into the social services space – firstly as PR and Fundraising Director for Presbyterian Support Otago and, subsequently, as Superintendent (CE) of the Dunedin Methodist Mission. During his time there he led the transition of the Methodist Church’s social services nationally from a charity-based model of social service provision to one based on community development principles. Since then Max has worked in a variety of senior management roles in the health a disability sector – primarily in aged care (both residential and community-based) – and, for most of that time in the not-for-profit sector. Max has lived experience of dementia, having moved back to Dunedin in 2013 to be the primary caregiver of in-laws, in particular his father-in-law who had dementia. Max has an ongoing interest in both aged care and the not-for-profit sector and hold degrees in Theology and Business, a postgraduate diploma in community development, a master’s degree in Social Policy, and I am a Fellow of the NZ Institute of Management.

Almost 7 years ago Adrienne’s partner was diagnosed with Alzheimers. As other family members also have dementia, and having had a career in the health and disability sector, she has a commitment to the development of support and services for people with dementia. In particular, she is interested in human rights issues that people with dementia often experience. Adrienne began her career as an Occupational Therapist, practicing in mental health services in NZ and England. On return to NZ, she moved into management in occupational therapy then community mental health, before changing to more community-focused roles and the disability sector. This included regional and national management roles, followed by 6 years in disability workforce development. She recently retired, having eased into it by working part-time completing some community development projects. Adrienne has had experience over a number of years in a variety of governance roles, all in the not-for-profit sector. This currently includes Living Well (Disability Information Service) and previously Careerforce (Health & Wellbeing ITO). She has also been involved in national service development through working groups such as the initial development of the Health & Disability Standards

Kirsten Robertson is an Associate Professor at the University of Otago and a co-investigator on the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study. She has a PhD and Master of Science degree in Psychology, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Education. Her research explores the influence of marketing on well-being, in particular, that of vulnerable individuals; it raises ethical and regulatory concerns and stresses the need for businesses to be proactive in protecting individuals who lack agency. Kirsten has a successful research and publication history and has recently begun researching in the field of Dementia and well-being. Kirsten is passionate about wellbeing and has worked as a facilitator at Stopping Violence Dunedin, has taught clinical communication skills to medical and dental students, and has conducted research for a number of organisations, for instance, the Otago Community Hospice and the New Zealand Transport Agency (Dunedin). Kirsten has also acted as a mentor for the marketing manager of another not-for-profit organisation. Kirsten is passionate about ageing well, and instilling dementia friendly communities. 

Robert is the Treasurer for Alzheimers Otago. He is retired and until recently was a member of ICANZ. During his career, he was involved in financial management within the New Zealand Public Service, University, and Telecommunications sectors. Outside of these organisations, Robert has also served in a similar capacity on various educational, religious, and sporting community organisations.

Dr. Yoram Barak is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Otago School of Medicine, Dunedin and a consultant psychogeriatrician at the SDHB. He is the convenor for 4th-year students for the Department of psychological medicine. Trained in medicine and psychiatry at the Sackler School of Medicine. In 1993 he became an Israel Medical Scientific Council Specialist in Psychiatry, and in 2004 was awarded a Master in Health Administration from Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel. Dr Barak was the medical director of Israel’s inpatient psychiatric services for Holocaust survivors for 25 years. He is past president of the Israeli Association of Old-Age Psychiatry and is on the associate editor for Aging Psychiatry of the Frontiers in Psychiatry. Dr Barak serves on the board of the Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age for the RANZCPsychiatry. Research interests include a wide range of psychiatric conditions with special emphasis on old-age psychiatry, and suicide. He has published extensively in these areas, and is the author or co-author of over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles. His book "Preventing Alzheimer's Disease" has been published in the US.

Rex Askerud is employed at Otago Polytechnic as a Business Partner in their People and Culture Team and brings to the board expertise in employment matters including health, safety, and wellbeing. Many years working for a large Not for Profit Aged Care provider gave him an appreciation of the increasing number of people in our communities living with dementia. Having worked closely with another board member, who introduced him to the work of Alzheimer’s Otago and the motivation to be of service, resulted in Rex being co-opted onto the board in early 2021.

Dr Kate Thomas is a Researcher & Senior Lecturer in Vascular Sciences in the Department of Surgical Sciences at the University of Otago. Kate is also a Vascular Sonographer and has been involved in ultrasound training in NZ for 8 years. Kate grew up in Zimbabwe and obtained her under-graduate degree at the University of Cape Town in Exercise Physiology before moving to NZ. Her research is focussed on understanding how the body responds to exercise and environmental stressors such as heat, cold and hypoxia, and then applying these stressors for health benefits, particularly for the brain and cardiovascular system. Kate’s research goals are to identify and develop effective, non-pharmaceutical, easy-to-implement lifestyle interventions to prevent or reduce the impact of chronic health conditions such as dementia, osteoarthritis and cardiovascular disease. Kate is also an obsessive trail runner and is passionate about physical activity.

John Hammer Bio John completed his Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Otago in 1982. He was employed as a chartered accountant for the Dunedin accounting firm Barr Burgess & Stewart for 42 years, although there were a number of name changes over those years, starting with Barr Burgess & Stewart, then Coopers & Lybrand, PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC, and finishing with Barr Burgess & Stewart. He retired in late 2024 following a diagnosis of the early stages of Dementia.Over those years, John developed a close working relationship, looking after a loyal client base, with the majority of the clients involved in the agricultural sector, as well as a range of commercial clients. He provided a range of business advisory services, including tax compliance and planning, budgeting, restructuring, and refinancing. He also worked on a number of one-off assignments.John has also served on the Board of Trustees at the Primary and Intermediate schools and was co-opted onto the finance committee of the local High School. He was on the Otago Rugby Football Union Board as a representative of the Metropolitan Rugby Committee and had also been on the Board Selection panel for the Union. John has been on the committee of sporting organisations that either he or his children have been involved with.While he has been involved with rugby since the age of five, he also participated in several other sports. John has also been a regular runner since his late teens and competed in several events over the years.