MORE COVERAGE:
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
AUSTRALIA’S peak body for dementia education and advocacy is calling on candidates in this year’s federal election to set aside more than $17 million to improve aged care and respite services for people living with the disorder.
The Alzheimer’s Australia election-time demands coincide with a $300,000 request from the City of Greater Bendigo to fund plans for a dementia village in Heathcote.
Recommendations include mandatory reporting of quality of life measures inside aged care facilities as well as the establishment of a “dementia friends program” that will combat community stigma that accompanies the disorder.
It also requested a commitment to respite services to alleviate pressure on family members and carers of people living with dementia.
Alzheimer’s Australia chief executive officer Carol Bennett said carers deserved to have confidence respite providers would offer their loved ones meaningful social opportunities.
“It is not just about putting them somewhere and providing them with a bed,” she said.
“It's about caring for the cultural and spiritual dimensions of people's personalities.”
Ms Bennett said social isolation remains a major issue for people living with dementia, with those affected often losing contact with friends and family after their diagnosis.
“This is often because people don’t understand enough about dementia and no longer know how to relate to the person,” she said.
“This ‘shrinkage’ of their social circle can be immensely stressful at what is an already difficult time.”
The friends program will encourage the community to provide safe and worthwhile opportunities for people with dementia to remain socially active, and adds to the peak body’s release this month of a community cafe toolkit.
The toolkit provides community groups with a guide to setting up a cafe in which people with dementia can meet, share their experiences and play games.
A survey conducted by Alzheimer’s Australia and Roy Morgan this month found a hunger among Australians for better dementia support services. Not only did nine in 10 people surveyed think the government should do more to support people with the disorder, but three in four did not feel confident high quality services would be available in the event they needed to find an aged care facility.
Dementia is the second leading cause of death and although the disorder was listed as a National Health Priority by federal and state governments in 2012, there is still no cure.
About 3,000 Bendigonians are believed to be living with dementia, a number than will triple by 2050.