Dementia Awareness Month
This September is Dementia Awareness Month. According to Dementia Australia, dementia is the second leading cause of death of all Australians and likely to become the leading cause of death based on provisional data; it’s already the leading cause of death amongst women. In 2023, it’s estimated that more than 400,000 Australians are living with dementia while 1.5 million Australians are involved in the care of someone living with dementia.
Which is why we’re incredibly proud of our part in a project that’s been running over the past year or so to create new dementia resources to support both health professionals and people diagnosed with dementia and their carers.
Created as part of a collaboration between five Victorian Primary Health Networks – Western Victoria, North Western Melbourne, Eastern Melbourne, Gippsland and Murray – and the Tasmanian PHN, the resources were funded by the Federal Government with the aim of providing more support to GPs to diagnose and care for people who have been diagnosed with dementia as well as to people living with dementia and their carers.
The new resources include:
- New and revised dementia HealthPathways
- New Dementia Demystified training created in collaboration with Dementia Training Australia (the first round of training was run in March and April, with more sessions to be announced later in the year).
- A new brochure – Dementia: Resources and support to help you live well – that can be given to people newly diagnosed with dementia and and their carers (which is available in a range of languages), as well as each PHN creating an up-to-date list of local supports and resources for their regions.
We’ve had great feedback to the new resources, including some from Dementia Australia’s consumer advocates (who it should be noted received $50 gift vouchers in return for providing feedback), which I share below:
How I long to have had this excellent brochure thrust into my hand – ‘Resources and Support to Help You Live Well with Dementia’ – as I sat stupefied in the psychiatrist’s office in Bendigo Base, transfixed by the blue folder she was holding and by what I had just been told. Too shocked to actualize the verdict of Alzheimer’s disorder of my brain.
It was only a few weeks before, in 2019, whilst on a routine visit to my GP, I told him I may have driven through a red light. Several scans and an IQ Test later, I was told of my progressive dementia. If I wished to continue to drive, I would have to undergo an expensive driving test.
I left the hospital numbed in a state of shock. All interactions had been verbal. Even the return visit to my GP. If only the phn brochure had been handed to me, I may have avoided the hopelessness of despair I felt until my first contact with Dementia Australia.
Heather Cooper, Dementia Australia lived experience advocate
I found the information comprehensive and helpful. It’s easy to read and follow and would be something you can pick up later to find further information you may have missed.
The QR codes are a great idea as the information is instant and easy to find for especially perhaps someone elderly.
When my husband was diagnosed in 2018 with younger onset Alzheimer’s disease, we were not given any of this information at all and we’re at a total loss as to what to do next… This would have elevated some of the anxiety and give some direction.
Robyn Mete, Dementia Australia carer advocate
You can read more information on all the new dementia resources here.
Cancer screening
Daffodil Day is this Friday and is a timely reminder that cancer screening remains one of our most effective tools in preventative health care. Now is the time to make sure you are booked in for your next screening appointment, so we continue to achieve increasing cancer screening rates across our region. And when heading to the supermarket or your local fruit and veg store for your essentials, pick up a bunch of daffodils in support of the Cancer Council.
Matildas!
Finally, it was wonderful to see the Matildas go so far in the World Cup. It was equally delightful to see the support they received from the Australian public, who really joined them on their rollercoaster ride. The Matildas are incredible role models for young people and I’m sure that we will see a massive upsurge in female participation in sport, which as we all know will have positive flow on effects on community health and wellbeing. It was particularly great to see the Australian Government promise to put in an extra $200 million into women’s sport, which should help make the most of this moment.
Rowena Clift, WVPHN CEO
23 August 2023