Aged care visionary joins UQ

The University of Queensland has attracted the Melbourne-based author of Australia’s newly launched 20-year “Vision For Aged Care” to take up appointment as its resident Professor in Geriatric Medicine.

The coup, secured by Faculty of Health Sciences Executive Dean Professor Peter Brooks, will see Professor Len Gray take up office in Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital from next month.

Professor Gray, an esteemed senior health manager specialising in aged care, will incorporate his role as administrator of the Sidney Myer Project – the nation’s first long-term vision for quality care of the elderly – into his UQ posting.

“This project, which will take up part of my first nine months at UQ, will look beyond the very immediate administrative issues of the day and address the greater challenges of the next century,” Professor Gray said.

“If current patterns of illness, dependency and service use continue, population ageing is likely to challenge the capacity of the aged care system to meet the community’s requirements.”

Professor Gray said he was attracted to UQ because “it has recognised the importance as a future agenda item and is committing resources to harnessing its capabilities in this area”.

Indicative of this commitment was UQ’s new Centre for Human Ageing, launched in 2001 under the directorship of Professor Helen Bartlett.

“I can see myself and the Centre exploring new possibilities and really working together to achieve a coalition between the clinical and non-clinical issues of aged care,” Professor Gray said.

Also among his aims for UQ was promotion of professional careers in aged care and geriatric medicine, thereby bridging the gap between training and practice.

For further information, contact Carrie Schofield on (telephone 07 3346 7413, mobile 0401 996 847).