General News
21 October, 2025
Learning from what's left in the fridge
Cathy Ryan has discovered that a refrigerator can reveal a great deal about her clients’ health. After several years working as a memory support nurse with Grampians Health, Horsham, Ms Ryan completed her Bachelor of Dementia Care through the University of Tasmania in 2024. Now, she is turning her focus toward learning more from the Wimmera community.
Recently, she studied in Melbourne with Dementia Training Australia, which launched the Dementia Knowledge to Action program.
“They have come to realise that a lot of people have knowledge that is not being translated into practice,” she said.
“As part of my training, I’ve been assigned a project of my choice to complete by the end of November, and I’ve chosen Reducing dementia stigma through education.
“I plan to gain as much knowledge from the Wimmera community as I can.”
Ms Ryan said her experience as a memory support nurse taught her that refrigerators can be a window into a person’s mental state.
“Is the food being used? Are they stocking the same thing over and over again? Are they overfilling the fridge? Are the contents of the fridge what you would expect?” she said.
“I had one case where I was asked to check in on a community member and I asked them if I could look in their fridge.
“Opening the door revealed 14 roast chickens and packaged salads and each had been partially eaten.
“So the mindset of the client was to go and buy a roast chicken and a salad from the supermarket, have a feed from it and put the rest in the fridge.
“Then each day they would repeat this process, but at no stage was there a realisation to finish the chicken and salad already in the fridge.”
Ms Ryan said she hopes to collect similar stories and experiences from the community to understand dementia better.
“I’m sure the community has many more stories and examples of care, and the more we can find out, the better we can understand the illness,” she said.
“I want to talk to people who have both experienced dementia care and those who are concerned about a loved one showing signs of memory loss.”
She said she meets regularly with a local dementia carers support group.
“We only have 10 members in the group and I know there will be a lot more people in our community who could use the support our group would provide them.
“So I want to hear from them too.”
Grampians Health chief operating officer of Hospitals, Ben Kelly, said Ms Ryan's work plays a vital role in keeping people healthy at home.
“Grampians Health has a strong focus on training its workforce to be innovative in everything we do and build on existing strengths,” he said.
“I encourage community members with first-hand knowledge of dementia care to contact Cathy and take part in her project.”
Anyone wishing to speak with Cathy can contact her on 5381 9022 or 0439 492 684, or visit her in person at Horsham Plaza from October 20 to 23.