“Do you know The Dementia Awareness Survey 2023 revealed day-to-day Australians know little about dementia unless they have family or friends with the disease, higher education or high incomer? But, encouragingly, almost all Australians (99.6%) do one or more things to reduce their dementia risk, such as being physically (77%), cognitively (77%) or socially active (70%).”
Are you aware that, currently, over 400,000 people are living with Dementia in our society?
Courtesy of The Dementia Awareness Survey 2023
Hi, Dr Dennis here again, I hope you are following my blogs from series one. You can find them all under the tab “Blogs” on www.primegardensrs.com.au
In this blog, I will summarise the societal impact of Dementia (many brain degenerative conditions can lead to Dementia, and Alzheimer’s happens to be the most common disease that leads to Dementia). Because unless we start to appreciate the gravity of this disease, most of us will tend to “sweep it under the carpet” and hope that Dementia will never “find” us! But you could argue that there is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s, so why waste energy and stress about it? I get it. Indeed, this disease is yet to be fully understood, let alone the treatment. That’s why I am asking you to continue to follow this blog as I slowly unpack the emerging evidence of the true culprits of Alzheimer’s, and you will be pleasantly surprised that, yes, can prevent it!
Dementia - Disease Burden
The graph on the next page illustrates the increasing incidence of diagnosis and death due to Dementia (all-cause); this may be partly because of improved awareness, diagnostic methods and increasing diagnosis and improvement in management by medical professionals.
burden of disease in Australia in 2023, only after heart disease. The burden of disease, in short, means the loss of a healthy life lived because of the disease, measured in life years.
Dementia Support – Treatment & Management
Primary General Practitioners (GPs) are our front-line support for people with Dementia; their roles often include referral to other specialists for diagnosis, ongoing monitoring of treatment-associated side effects if necessary and support for primary carers and end-of-life management. Despite societal & governmental best efforts, support for GPs is not always available and, at times, ad hoc. This often leads to referring clients with Dementia to acute hospitals, adding more pressure to the stretched public system. “In 2022–23, there were more than 12.1 million hospitalisations in Australia (AIHW 2023). Of these, Dementia was the main reason for admission for about 26,300 hospitalisations, equivalent to 2 out of every 1,000 hospitalisations.”
Dementia in Australia, Summary – Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (aihw.gov.au)
Aged Care Services & Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACF)
Aged care services encompass a wide range of societal support for people and the carers of Dementia.
Starting from community support, there were 1334 Home Care Package (HCP) Providers as of June 2023, and the numbers are expected to grow. The Australian Government has committed $7.7 billion to home care reforms, including 80,000 additional home care packages (40,000 in 2021–22 and 2022–23) and $10.8 million to support the design of the new Support at Home program in their 2022/23 budget.
As of 30 June 2022, over 17,200 people received the Dementia and Cognition Supplement as part of their Home Care Package.
From the Residential Aged Care Facilities ( RACF) perspective, in 2021–22, over 242,000 people were living in permanent residential aged care, and more than half (54% or about 131,000) of these people had dementia.
What take-home messages and practical steps can I take?
Friends, I hope you can get a micro-glimpse of the impact of Dementia on our society. There are many more impacts I haven’t touched on. I am proud of being an Australian because we, as a society, have done so much for people with Dementia and their carers. There is always more we could do. Suppose you are wondering what I am referring to. In that case, we need to be serious about stopping the disease by preventing it, taking care of our lifestyle, being vigilant about our diet and not just hoping Dementia is not for us!
Friends, I will share about the current treatment options in the market. Stay tuned.