Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—Today I was very pleased to join Alzheimer’s Australia and the Parliamentary Friends of Dementia to launch Dementia Awareness Week, which will run from 19 to 26 September. Parliamentary Friends of Dementia is a bipartisan group led by Senator Marise Payne and the member for Newcastle.

The Australian government is the principal sponsor of Dementia Awareness Week and provides more than $370,000 to Alzheimers Australia under the National Dementia Support Program to run the event. Dementia Awareness Week provides an opportunity to raise the profile of dementia related issues and to help promote wider understanding of dementia in the community. The theme for this year is ‘Mind your mind—and reduce your risk of dementia’.

The events will focus on this theme and some of the events across the country will include:

• displays in local libraries and information centres in Townsville,
• a brain fitness program launch in Perth,
• an open day at Alzheimers Australia historic buildings in Melbourne,
• a tea dance in Darwin,
• a photographic display in Adelaide,
• a dementia awareness expo on the Sunshine Coast,
• a symposium on risk reduction in Western Sydney and
• seminars on prevention across the ACT.

We all recognise that there is growing evidence that healthy eating, intellectual stimulation, exercise and the prevention of cardiovascular risk factors reduce the risk of developing dementia. Prevention is a clear priority as we face the impending challenges of the ageing of our population.

More than 200,000 Australians currently live with dementia. That figure is expected to increase to almost 465,000 by 2031. There are also 10,000 people with younger onset dementia. Alzheimer’s Australia says nearly a million people are involved in caring for a family member or friend with dementia and there will be around 57, 000 new cases diagnosed in Australia this year. That is more than 1,000 new cases a week. In 50 to 70 per cent of these cases, the diagnoses will be Alzheimer’s disease.

That is why more than $120 million a year from the Australian government is provided through the dementia initiative. This includes:

• $90 million a year for extended aged care at home dementia packages
• $24 million a year for dementia research, prevention, early intervention and improved care, including research grants offered through the National Health and Medical Research Council and funding for three dementia collaborative research centres
• $7 million for training for aged and community care staff, carers and community workers such as police.

Our investment in dementia research includes $16 million over three years for the Dementia Research Grants program and $7.2 million over three years for the dementia collaborative research centres. Through the National Framework for Action on Dementia, the Australian government is committed to working with state and territory governments to help improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their carers.

Also, the Australian government formed an advisory group to provide advice to me and the Department of Health and Ageing on issues relating to the monitoring and evaluation of the dementia initiative. Members of the Dementia Advisory Group are drawn from peak body groups for people living with dementia and their carers and from nursing and medical professionals and academia. All have particular expertise and knowledge about dementia. It also includes people directly affected by dementia. The 16-member advisory group is co-chaired by former Brisbane Lord Mayor, Ms Sallyanne Atkinson, and by Ms Sue Pieters-Hawke, author of the bestselling book Hazel’s Journey. The other members of the advisory group consist of experts drawn from dementia peak organisations, the aged-care sector and the nursing and medical professions.

Earlier today I was very pleased to launch three new $600,000 dementia training resources. These resources are designed to support the training provided to aged-care workers, community workers, volunteers and carers who are caring for people with dementia. These were developed for communities with specific needs to ensure greater equity in the care of those with dementia. The first of these resources is ‘Local knowledge: a dementia care e-learning resource for rural and remote aged care workers’. A consortium led by Alzheimer’s WA produced this e-learning resource which will enable rural and remote care workers and volunteers to undertake self-paced, on-demand dementia care training. The second resource is ‘Strangers in a strange land: cultural competence in dementia care’. This CD-ROM resource focuses on people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and was produced by Workplace Learning Initiatives. It features interactive learning materials about people from diverse backgrounds presenting scenarios based on real stories and characters which span all environments of dementia care. The third in the series is ‘2 young 4 dementia: meeting the needs of people with younger onset dementia’.

Younger onset dementia is used to describe any form of dementia diagnosed in people under the age of 65. Dementia in younger people is much less common than dementia affecting people over the age of 65 and can be difficult to diagnose. However, correct diagnosis is very important. The most common cause of younger onset dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. Other types of dementia, such as frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia, acquired brain injury and alcohol related dementias, are more common in those with younger onset dementia than in those with dementia who are over the age of 65. Several types of younger onset dementia are hereditary. Genetic screening may therefore be considered by family members in certain situations. Of course, the person with younger onset dementia and their family and carers face additional challenges to those faced by older people with dementia due to the stage of life that they are in. This training resource was produced by Alzheimer’s Australia ACT to support improved dementia awareness and care for younger people.

I note that in the ACT alone there are 2,660 people with dementia. All three resources will be made available across Australia over the next three months. The Department of Health and Ageing will be sending these resources to training providers, particularly those funded by the government to provide Certificate IV in Aged Care, and to health and aged-care services as well as volunteer carers. They will also be available free of charge. In keeping with this week’s theme, Alzheimer’s Australia is also publishing a new paper, Dementia risk reduction: what do Australians know? Source material for this paper was produced through the Dementia Collaborative Research Centres, which are funded through the Dementia Initiative.

Survey findings revealed that few people are currently taking steps to reduce their dementia risk. The paper suggests that there is poor knowledge of the current evidence to actually reduce the risk of developing dementia. The Dementia Initiative has achieved a great deal since 2005. To keep its work current and relevant, it is presently being independently evaluated. Together with advice from my Dementia Advisory Group, this evaluation will inform future directions for the program. Together, we are making great progress in raising the level of overall understanding about how to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia, their carers and families. But there is certainly much more to do in the future.

I ask leave of the House to move a motion to enable the member for McPherson to speak for eight minutes.

Leave granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent Mrs May speaking for a period not exceeding eight minutes.

Question agreed to.

Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, too, was pleased to join Alzheimer’s Australia and the Parliamentary Friends of Dementia at the launch of Dementia Awareness Week. Both the Minister for Ageing and I were there at this important occasion this morning. Alzheimer’s and other dementias are expected to increase dramatically in the coming years as our population ages. We certainly heard a little bit about that this morning. It is estimated that approximately 26 million people around the world currently live with Alzheimer’s. I think that is a staggering statistic. It is certainly very frightening to think of the impact that is having on the world and, indeed, Australia. We understand that the prevalence of Alzheimer’s is expected to increase to more than 100 million cases by 2050 around the world. That will mean that one in every 85 people will be living with Alzheimer’s. The cost to our healthcare system will be enormous. The personal cost to families will be even greater. Many of us know of someone with dementia, but in a few short years it will be one or both of our parents. It might be a sibling. Madam Deputy Speaker, even you or I could be living with dementia.

But the future does not have to be all grim. This year’s theme, as the minister has indicated today, for Dementia Awareness Week, ‘Mind your mind’, places emphasis and focus on awareness. I cannot stress enough how important this is. My own electorate of McPherson has a large number of senior citizens, and I place great stock in encouraging awareness of dementia in my electorate. It is incredibly important, and it will become even more important in the future, that we start to help ourselves. It is time for Australians to stop and take stock of their lives. I often speak about taking responsibility for one’s choices in one’s life in this place, and we can do something about Alzheimer’s and dementia by taking stock of our lives.

One thing that did hit home this morning from the launch of Dementia Awareness Week is that few people are actually taking steps to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s and other dementias; yet, as the Minister for Ageing said, research consistently shows that there are a number of modifiable risk factors associated with dementia. These include mental and social activity, eating healthy foods and regular exercise. I think we all know what we should be doing. Alzheimer’s Australia’s paper Dementia risk reduction: what do Australians know? has the following to say:

There is general consensus in the literature that public health interventions to modify risk factors have the potential to reduce dementia incidence by reducing risk or delaying onset. To design and implement effective interventions, an understanding of the current awareness of, and attitudes to, dementia risk reduction in the community is required.

I support this unreservedly. The Minister for Ageing rightly asserts that governments have a role to play in supporting organisations like Alzheimer’s Australia. I commend the minister for providing funding to Alzheimer’s Australia, under the National Dementia Support Program, to run Dementia Awareness Week. It is, I am sure we all agree, money well spent. The minister highlighted the funding her government has given to dementia research and initiatives but she seems to have overlooked that the previous government had an outstanding record in aged care. It was the Howard government that made dementia a national health priority and provided funding of $320.6 million in the 2005-06 budget to make it happen. The last budget of the Howard government provided funding of $1.6 billion over five years for the Securing the Future of Aged Care for Australians package.

But government support and government funding should not be a replacement for or an alternative to individuals taking responsibility for their own lives. Surveys by Alzheimer’s Australia reveal that 20 per cent of Australians believe nothing can be done to reduce the risk of dementia and 28 per cent are unsure what, if anything, can be done. The surveys also reveal—and this was highlighted during the launch this morning—that few people are actually taking steps to reduce the risk of dementia and, alarmingly, too many people lack the motivation to do something about it. This must change.

Earlier today, in the adjournment debate in the Main Committee, I gave a speech about the prevalence of depression in older Australians living in nursing homes. I spoke of the need for better training of nursing and medical staff to improve their ability to detect depression among low-level-care residents. As would be expected, there is a high rate of dementia amongst nursing home residents. Dementia and depression can often occur together. As I highlighted in my adjournment speech, it is often difficult to diagnose depression in nursing home residents, but when the two occur together it is even more difficult to distinguish between them because the signs and symptoms are similar. These symptoms include confusion, memory disturbance and impaired ability to concentrate. Misdiagnosis of dementia could mean a person with depression does not get the support and treatment they need. Likewise, incorrectly diagnosing dementia as depression could lead to inappropriate treatment and, more so, unrealistic expectations of improvement.

It is a lamentable fact that dementia is incurable. I hope—and I am sure every member of this House hopes—that one day a cure will be found for those people suffering from dementia.      Until that day it is up to all of us to take responsibility for our lives and futures and address the risk factors that could reduce the prevalence of dementia. The social and economic costs require us to act now. We must take the necessary action now to raise awareness of ways to reduce the risk of dementia.

I congratulate Alzheimer’s Australia and the Parliamentary Friends of Dementia for a successful launch of Dementia Awareness Week. As the minister noted, there are many activities taking place right across Australia during Dementia Awareness Week from 19 to 26 September, and I encourage all Australians to get involved and learn more about dementia.

Finally, I would like to thank the minister for advising my office of her intention to make a ministerial statement on this important week and for affording me the opportunity to say a few words in support of Dementia Awareness Week.