In just two decades there will not be enough carers to support people with dementia, according to Alzheimer’s Australia.
By 2029, the number of people living with dementia is tipped to double, reaching 465,000, but without siginficant change the paid and unpaid care workforce will not be able to keep pace.
An Access Economics report predicts that there will be a shortfall of close to 60,000 professional dementia care workers and a shortage of 94,000 informal ‘family’ carers.
“We felt it was important to not just talk about the increasing numbers of people with dementia, as we have done for a number of years, but also to demonstrate the impact of the dementia epidemic on the aged care sector,” said Alzheimer’s Australia CEO, Glenn Rees.
The group is calling for a renewed focus on the aged care workforce along with better methods for supporting informal carers.
“I think there is a high recognition in political terms of the importance of [family] carers but I am not sure that adequate strategies have been worked through to achieve sufficient supports for them,” said Mr Rees.
“Carers of people with dementia need very specific dementia education, dementia-friendly services and counseling from people who have experience of what it is like to live with dementia.”
In response to the rising demand for dementia care, the report recommends that the aged care planning ratios be reviewed to include targets for dementia-specific community and residential care services.
Mr Rees said there should also be a new form of accreditation system to ensure the quality of dementia-specific residential services.
“I think that if you are going to say that a facility has a dementia unit, then consumers should know what that means,” he said.
“In such a system you could include a series of things that would start to make people aware of what they would need to do to provide good dementia care, such as correct staff training, an appropriate physical environment and a person-centred philosophy.
“It’s not rocket science and the good providers are probably doing most of those things already.”
The report also called for greater choice for people with dementia as well as more respite services.
“A lot of carers would probably be able to continue to work part time, if not full time, if they had access to regular long day respite,” said Mr Rees.
“It would enable many of them to keep a better balance in life and for some, the part time money would help to meet care expenses.”
This latest report is the first in a series commissioned by Alzheimer’s Australia to draw attention to the effects of the ageing population in the lead up to next year’s budget.
“We are setting the scene,” he said. “This is a huge issue but we have still got time to plan.
“The dimensions are huge but we do know the sorts of things that are necessary.”
