Call for better access to allied health for dementia care

Dementia Australia, Occupational Therapy Australia and Speech Pathology Australia have come together to call for access and appropriate funding to pathways of allied health support and services for people living with dementia.

Allied health services such as speech pathology and occupational therapy support people living with dementia to maintain physical and cognitive health, independence and wellbeing for as long as possible, said Dementia Australia chief executive officer Professor Tanya Buchanan.

Dementia Australia has used its pre-budget submission to ask the federal government to support the development of a team of Dementia Specialist Navigators within Dementia Australia to directly address the challenges newly diagnosed people often encounter in navigating support, including referral and access to allied health services.

“It is vital that people have immediate, ongoing and flexible access to early intervention supports,” Professor Buchanan said.  

The three national peak bodies also participated in a Dementia Australia webinar: Dementia and Allied Health: Personal and Professional Perspectives on the Benefits of Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology. The webinar was introduced by Australia’s chief allied health officer Anita Hobson-Powell and highlighted joint position statements on speech pathology, occupational therapy and dementia.  

A joint statement by Occupational Therapy Australia and Dementia Australia relating to the importance of occupational therapy in dementia care can be found here.

Christina Wyatt, professional practice advisor – aged care, Occupational Therapy Australia told Community Care Review that a key reason the national peak bodies are coming together is to highlight that a dementia diagnosis does not mean that person lacks the capacity or the ability to build structures and systems around them, or that they won’t benefit from a restorative approach.

Allied health isn’t just a nice-to-have for people living with dementia, she said, it’s actually an essential element of a person’s dementia journey and should be implemented as a key feature of their post-diagnosis care.

“We know that people can live with dementia, and that the best opportunities for them to live well with dementia is when they have the right mix of skills and professionals supporting them,” she told CCR. “And one of the biggest parts of that professional skill mix in their care is an allied health professional.”

“We bring strengths-based approaches to our interventions, so we’re thinking about the skills and the strengths that a person still has despite their diagnosis, despite their presentation, and we work with those areas of function.

“So it’s not about saying this is it, you’ve got this diagnosis, see you later, it’s about, this is the diagnosis and we’re at a point where we can take this to another level for you so that then you’re able to still be able to remain at home, live with your family members if that’s important to you, take on the activities that are important and meaningful to you.”

Continual engagement is critical for supporting cognitive health, physical health and emotional wellbeing, which are often overtaken by the trajectory of dementia if not addressed. Ultimately, the less people living with dementia do, the more they deteriorate, so active and meaningful engagement is key Ms Wyatt told CCR, whether it be personal hobbies or everyday tasks such as making a cup of tea.

This is where allied health professionals come in, she explained, as they have the skills to assess an individual and understand their capabilities alongside the diagnosis and progression of the dementia. Together with the client they can figure out what that person wants to continue doing in their day-to-day life, what is important to them and the areas they need support in.

Ms Wyatt said she wanted to see a greater awareness, understanding and appreciation of the role allied health professionals have in supporting people with dementia to stay at home as long as possible.

“There hasn’t been any dedicated work done at that reform level to recognise that pathway,” Ms Wyatt told CCR.

Occupational Therapy Australia has “done pieces of work to build awareness around our role and what we offer in the broader sense of supporting people ageing and living with various ailments, but now we’re honing it down into this space around dementia, and recognising that we do have a very unique set of skills around understanding a person’s cognition, understanding a person’s functional performance, understanding the home environment, prescribing assistive technologies that are important for supporting people living with dementia and their family and carers,” she said.

“We want to elevate people’s understanding of why you want to bring an occupational therapist on board when you recognise and identify a diagnosis of dementia.”

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