Free Seminar: Post-Diagnostic Support and Rehabilitation for People With Dementia

The National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) is a great organisation to get to know if you are interested in issues pertaining to older Australians. NARI not only conducts research into ageing, but it also hosts a number of seminars for members of the public, and these are very often free-of-charge.

At 12 noon on Tuesday 7th June 2022, NARI is hosting an online seminar called “Post-Diagnostic Support and Rehabilitation for People Living with Dementia”.

The seminar is being conducted by Professor Lee-Fay Low (BSc Psych (Hons), PhD), from the University of Sydney.

Professor Low is a registered psychologist with a PhD in psychiatric epidemiology. Her main areas of expertise are in rehabilitation and post-diagnostic support for people with dementia, home and residential care for older people, the impact of COVID-19 on people with dementia, stigma and dementia literacy, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. She is particularly interested in developing and evaluating interventions to improve the quality of life of older people.

The seminar will outline data from two Australian studies relating to post-diagnostic support: Forward with Dementia and Dementia Together. In brief, the findings were that the majority of people with dementia and carers did not receive sufficient information, a care plan or treatments and services after diagnosis. Some diagnostic services were limited in their capacity to provide ongoing follow-up after diagnosis. Many general practitioners found the time-pressures and non-medical aspects of ongoing dementia management difficult. There were differing expectations and attitudes around the need for and purpose of post-diagnostic supports (e.g. delay decline or enhance quality of life).

This will be followed by Professor Low outlining an Australian dementia diagnosis and post-diagnostic support pathway, with particular emphasis on gaps and recommendations for implementation.

You can register for this informative one-hour seminar HERE.

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• Health & Wellness