Emma Larouche
7 November 2024: University of Canberra second-year nursing student Elliot Downes received this year’s COPE (Caring for Older People Excellence) Award for their dedication to learning in an aged care setting and interest in pursuing postgraduate studies in the field of ageing research.
They received $2000 through the COPE Memorial Fund, an annual award which acknowledges an individual’s study achievements and vision for a career in aged care. It was created in honour of the late Dr Sarah Cope, who was an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University, and who had a passion for improving aged and dementia care.
Elliot Downes had been doing an arts degree in Melbourne and completed the course online after relocating to the ACT during the COVID-19 pandemic. They had been working at a Canberra GP clinic during that time, and decided to enrol part-time in a Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Canberra in 2022.
“Coming out of the pandemic, I decided I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare, but I had no idea if nursing was right for me,” they said.
“Doing the course as a mature age student, with a bit more life experience has been wonderful – I’m so glad I found it.”
A clinical placement in an aged care setting was an experience that left Elliot with a desire to gain more experience in gerontological nursing. They went on to complete the Clinical Placement with Older People (CPOP) program at Cooma Hospital, working in an acute setting that reaffirmed their aspirations.
“I find working with older people incredibly rewarding for two reasons – I love how the clinical aspect is really challenging and really complex, as the people you're caring for often have multiple chronic health conditions. I also think this area of nursing is fun, as you get to know people who have lived incredible lives and you can learn so much from their wisdom and life experience,” they said.
Elliot also recognises the need to advocate for older people in healthcare settings and society more broadly, with a drive to improve quality of care and quality of life for those in aged care settings, aligned with Sarah Cope’s legacy. They aim to work in nursing with older people when they graduate, while looking to go on and complete Honours research into dementia and ageing.
“I think there's a lot of ageism that prevents people from treating older people like people,” Elliot said.
“We need to think ‘how would I like my grandma, or my mother to be treated in this situation?’ and I think it’s really important to address the needs of older people that are often written off as being a part ‘just being old’.”
The award was presented during the combined 2024 Cope Memorial Lecture and Older Person Nursing Roundtable networking event earlier this week.
The lecture was delivered by Associate Professor Margaret MacAndrew from Queensland University of Technology. Dr MacAndrew studied alongside Dr Cope, sharing the same PhD supervisor and both researching in the field of improving the care and quality of life for people living with dementia who wander. The lecture was titled “Dementia: non-pharmacological interventions and preventing adverse events – reflections on a decade of gerontological nursing research”.
Reflecting on receiving the COPE Award at the event, Elliot attributes the recognition to their Nan, who played a central role in their upbringing, in the NSW coastal town of Port Macquarie.
“My Nan has been a huge influence on my life, and I like to think a lot of what I'm doing today is because of how she raised me – I really want to make her proud.”