Dementia fight gets further funding
The fight against dementia in Australia is to be assisted by $4.4 million in research grants to study the effect of vitamin D supplementation on dementia and new models of care for Indigenous Australians with dementia. .
Dementia is the leading cause of non-fatal disease burden among older Australians and currently affects around 200,000 people. About 1,000 new cases are diagnosed in Australia each week.
The National Health and Medical Research Council grants are part of a $320.6 million Federal Government 2005 Budget initiative: Helping Australians with dementia and their carers—making dementia a national health priority. Eight projects have been funded over three years.
The University of Western Australia is looking at how educating GPs and residential care staff can improve care delivery, and therefore quality of life, for people with dementia in nursing, and also the models of care to cater for unmet needs in older Indigenous people with dementia, and their families and communities.
A University of Sydney study will examine the complexities that contribute to risk of falling in cognitively impaired older people; the University of Queensland will investigate the emergence of anxiety and depression associated with cognitive decline; and Monash University will look at language use, psychiatric medication, quality of life and satisfaction with care for the growing numbers of older migrants with dementia.
In Melbourne a study at St Vincent’s Hospital will examine the cognitive decline experienced by up to 60% of cardiac patients after surgery, in the hope of identifying safer coronary treatment that reduces the risk of impairment.
A full list of grant recipients and project descriptions is available at www.nhmrc.gov.au
