High levels of Indigenous dementia
New research suggests Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote areas are up to five times more likely to have dementia.
Alzheimer’s Australia has released a report showing the prevalence of dementia among remote, Indigenous people could be four to five times higher than those in the general community.
The report ‘Dementia: A Major Health Problem for Indigenous People’, was prepared for the Parliamentary Friends of Dementia, and is based on recent research in the Kimberley region by researchers from the University of Western Australia.
Professor Leon Flicker from the university’s Centre for Health and Ageing said that although more research was needed, there is sufficient data to see that dementia in Indigenous needs to be addressed.
“The University of Western Australia has received further funding from the Australian Government through the National Health and Medical Research Council which will enable more research into service development for people with dementia in the Kimberley,” he said.
“However, work of this kind is also needed in other parts of Australia to ensure that service development is relevant to the needs of Indigenous people in different areas.”
The Minister for Ageing, Christopher Pyne, recently released a dementia learning resource for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities.
