21 September 2022
Dementia impacts nearly half a million Australians and the number is expected to double in the next 25 years.
The theme for this year’s Dementia Action Week (19-25 September), a national awareness campaign that challenges common misconceptions about dementia, is ‘A little support makes a big difference’. The campaign aims to highlight that many people living with dementia can continue to live well for many years after their diagnosis.
Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a set of symptoms caused by brain disease. Typical signs include gradual changes in thinking, memory, language and other areas that affect everyday activities. The many different types of dementia include Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body disease.
For Dementia Action Week, peak body Dementia Australia is aiming to clear up prevailing misconceptions about the disease.
It says an estimated 65 per cent of Australians living with dementia live in the community. They can lead active and fulfilling lives many years after diagnosis, however, they often experience discrimination. A Dementia Australia survey found more than 70 per cent of people believed discrimination towards people with dementia is common, or very common.
“The impact of discrimination can be devastating,’’ ANMF (SA Branch) Adj Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars AM said.
“When people require aged care services and are drawing to the end of their life they require high-quality nursing clinical assessment and care. That is why we have campaigned so relentlessly for legislation for appropriate staffing and skills mix requirements including a registered nurse being present on a residential site 24 hours per day.
“Our campaigning paid off with strong commitments to this effect from the Albanese Government.’’
In November the ANMF (SA Branch) is holding a face-to-face workshop called “Evidence Based Practice: Delirium, Dementia and Depression in Older Adults: A South Australian Perspective”.
“The response to this workshop already has been overwhelmingly positive and the feedback from our members is that a discussion in this field is much needed,” Ms Dabars said.
Register your attendance here
Download the program here
Meanwhile, researchers at the Rosemary Bryant AO Research Centre (RBRC) are extremely excited about their latest project, one they believe could revolutionise dementia care in residential facilities.
The RBRC is the product of a partnership between the University of South Australia, the ANMF (SA Branch) and its adjunct service, the Rosemary Bryant Foundation. The Centre was established and funded by the ANMF (SA Branch) to strengthen and empower the role of nursing and midwifery through the development of a research-driven, evidence-based platform of health care.
The RBRC worked with Eldercare to test the feasibility of an evidence-based clinical pathway for the prevention and management of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in residential aged care facilities.
The staggering results in the change of behaviours has prompted Eldercare to plan to extend the new clinical pathway throughout its sites and for other Residential Aged Care Centre explore opportunities to trial.
You can read more about this new pathway in the October edition of the ANMF (SA Branch)’s INPractice magazine.