Dementia Australia
Prominent Australians including Prof Graeme Samuel AC, Ita Buttrose AC OBE, Denis Walter, The Veronicas and Abbie Chatfield have banded together with more than 200 Dementia Advocates to write to the Prime Minister ahead of next month’s Federal Budget. The letter calls on the Government to fund the Roadmap for Quality Dementia Care developed by Dementia Australia with partners Dementia Training Australia and Dementia Support Australia.
The letter is written on behalf of the half a million Australians living with dementia and the 1.6 million people involved in their care and describes the Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety’s final recommendations as a “once in a generation opportunity to commit to the funding and policy settings we need to deliver quality dementia care” and “an opportunity we cannot afford to miss”.
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Virtual reality to help dementia carers walk in peoples shoes
Researchers from The University of Western Australia have created an immersive virtual reality experience to improve participants’ understanding of the effects of dementia on people who live with the condition.
The program, Meaningful Spaces, is a novel, virtual reality training resource that allows healthcare workers to walk in the shoes of a person living with dementia and experience some of the challenges they face in their everyday lives.
While the virtual reality scenarios are based in residential care, the principles apply across all care settings.
The team from UWA’s WA Centre for Health and Ageing developed the program through the Dementia Training Australia consortium, an organisation funded by the federal government to provide training for people who care for those living with dementia.
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$44 million to extend dementia training, education and support
The Australian Government will extend grant agreements for programs providing support, training and education for services and individuals caring for people living with dementia.
An extra $44 million will be provided to Dementia Training Australia and Dementia Support Australia to extend the following national programs from July 2021 to June 2022:
Dementia Training Program (DTP)
Severe Behaviour Response Teams (SBRT)
Needs Based Assessment (NBA), which is a component of the Specialist Dementia Care Program.
Minister for Senior Australians and Aged Care Services, Richard Colbeck, said the programs improved care for people living with dementia.