A decade of the Ageing Well Expo

The Perth Ageing Well Expo turned ten this year, and Juniper marked the occasion as Principal Sponsor of its biggest event yet. More than 120 exhibitors took part across Friday 31 July and Saturday 1 August at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, and 4,632 visitors came through the doors over the two days.

A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by the Juniper stand, which was once again one of the busiest at the expo. Visitors were excited to talk about what makes people smile, jotting a word or two on our board, whether that was a morning cup of tea, a phone call from the grandkids, pottering in the garden, dancing, catching up with friends or a good game of bowls. It was a lovely way to start a conversation about how the right support, across Home Care, Retirement Living and Residential Aged Care, can help people keep doing the things that bring them joy.

Just as popular was our poll asking visitors how confident they felt navigating the aged care system, answered with an emoji sticker ranging from “I’ve got it covered” through to “completely overwhelmed.” Juniper’s research has found that almost seven in ten people don’t understand the aged care system, so it was no surprise so many people paused at the board to have their say.

Tracey Izard, Juniper’s Customer Support and Sales Lead, took to the stage twice across the two days to present on Navigating Support at Home, explaining government-funded services and the recent changes to aged care funding in an easy to understand way. Both sessions drew a keen audience and plenty of questions from people wanting to know more about accessing support and eligibility. Russell Bricknell’s live interview with Todd Johnston gave Juniper a strong platform to talk about our advocacy work, and throughout both days staff could be found in deep conversation with visitors, listening, answering questions, offering reassurance and sharing a laugh along the way.

Of course, no Juniper stand would be complete without the DINE team, who once again showcased the great food served to Juniper residential home residents every day. This year’s menu included pea and ham soup, roasted pumpkin and barley soup with toasted wattle seeds, date and oat cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting, and a gut healthy quinoa salad, all of which went down a treat. Thank you to Kirrie, Jason, Lindi, Poh and the team behind the scenes who make it happen every year.