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Valuing & facilitating partnerships 

on this journey

Learning 
More

Together we learn more.

Shared knowledge with research benefits from involvement of people with lived experience in a number of ways, including where people with lived experience and trained individuals can come together to help the wider community to be more informed about research and associated outcomes.

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Behaviour Symptoms

Many people experience behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) such as aggression, agitation or disinhibition.

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Between 56 and 90 per cent of Australians with dementia exhibit clinically significant behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, with higher rates occurring in residential aged care facility settings according to Australia's boosting dementia research initiative report.

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Physical aggression, agitation and disinhibition— especially when severe—are difficult to manage and can put people with dementia, carers and other residents at risk.

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We are focused on evidencing the environmental factors such as living arrangements and surroundings in determining how behaviours varied.

Reminiscence bump

Researchers have demonstrated that neuroimaging research shows music provides a “super stimulus” for the brain.

 

According to a study by Jakubowski et al 2020, autobiographical memories are heavily recalled for events from late adolescence and early adulthood, a phenomenon called the reminiscence bump. This phenomenon is the reason why songs from our adolescence and early adulthood are most likely to evoke memories later in life. The study also found that musical reminiscence bumps peak around age 14 and create lifelong memories.

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Research to date indicates music can have a host of benefits for people with dementia. Not only does music have the potential to remain independent of any cognitive impairment related to dementia, it is also a powerful tool for calming stress and anxiety, for people with dementia and their carers.

Confabulation

Interesting term isn't it?

One definition from Medical News Today publication states that:

"Confabulation is the spontaneous production of false memories. Confabulation typically occurs due to brain damage or health conditions that affect the brain, such as dementia."

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People who experience confabulation may create memories of events that have never happened. This can be a symptom of dementia.

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People with dementia may display several symptoms of confusion or altered perception of reality. Confabulation is an example of this.

 

It occurs when a person with dementia creates new memories of things that never actually happened, or they alter memories of events that occur in their day-to-day life.

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Confabulation is different from lying. The person who confabulates has no intent to mislead anyone or give them wrong information, as they are not aware that the information they are giving is false.

Dementia and CALD Australians

CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) Australians make up approximately one third of Australia’s population.

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In a recent publication in the Medical Journal of Australia, it is recognised that current Australian dementia research does not reflect this diversity as people from CALD backgrounds are frequently underrepresented in dementia research and relevant data on ethnicity is not routinely gathered or reported. Yet disparities in health and care outcomes between CALD and the general population are documented. We can see this in published examples in specialist referral rates, medication use and participation in clinical trials across the country.​

We recognise the need to:

  1. Identify effective ways to promote dementia risk reduction behaviours in CALD communities

  2. Promote dementia awareness and risk reduction including the use of culturally sensitive methods towards dementia awareness and diagnosis

  3. Develop, test, and implement culturally-specific models of dementia support and care that improve access to care and quality of life for CALD persons with dementia and their carers.
     

How will we do this:
Strategic partnerships with community and residential service providers, engaging relationships with other non for profit community organisations and with the support of government, we will drive our ability to develop awareness, access data for research and develop contemporary practice to support people on the journey with dementia across Western Australia.

Further research Information

1 / NeuRA

Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) is an independent, not-for-profit, medical research institute dedicated to improving the lives of people living with brain and nervous system disorders.

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Web link: NeuRA | Transforming lives through medical research | Neuroscience…

2 / National Health and Medical Research Council 

The NHMRC advise the Australian Government and facilitate networking in the research community by bringing academics and industry together.

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Web link: Home | NHMRC

3 / Dementia Australia

Dementia Australia are the national peak body for people impacted by dementia in Australia.​

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Web link: Home | Dementia Australia

4 / Dementia Support Network of WA

Their mission is to be there for not only those living with dementia but their families and friends, as they are often the people needing the most help. They want to offer support and knowledge in a non-judgemental, caring space.​

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Facebook page link: Facebook 

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