Dementia

In this assignment, I researched about the health problem, dementia. Dementia is one of the serious health problems Australia encounters. This is due to the fact that the aging of population in Australia is increasing. Thus, the number of people who are diagnosed as dementia is increasing every year. Brown & Edwards (2005) suggested that there are approximately 18,000 new cases of dementia in Australia every year. Harris, Nagy and Vardaxis (2006) stated ÐŽ®dementia is a progressive organic mental disorder characterised by chronic personality disintegration, confusion, disorientation, stupor, deterioration of intellectual capacity and function, and impairment of control of memoryЈ¬ judgement and impulses.ЎЇ (p.501) Brown& Edwards (2005) noted that the decline in cognitive functions affect individualЎЇs ability to work and therefore they are not able to complete the tasks. In an aetiology view, dementia is commonly caused by advanced age, family history, neurodegenerative conditions and vascular. (Brown & Edwards, 2005) Neurodegenerative conditions are those diseases of the brain such as infectious diseases tend to strike people in very old age. (Brown & Edward, 2005) Up to now, the most common type of neurodegenerative diseases is known as AlzheimerЎЇs disease. (Stewart, Prince& Mann, 1999) Vascular dementia is a degenerative cerebrovascular disease that leads to a progressive decline in memory and cognitive functioning. It occurs when the blood supply carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain is interrupted by a blocked or diseased vascular system. (Crisp & Taylor, 2005) Dementia affects mainly in older people. Brown & Edwards (2005) statedЎЇ As the average life span of humans increase, the number of those affected with dementia is growing and is now a major international public health concern.ЎЇ(p.1584)

The high prevalence of dementia in Australia has a great impact on the public health. Dementia has the potential to become an enormous public health problem in Australia. Brown & Edwards (2005) stated ÐŽ®In Australia there are approximately 18,000 new cases of dementia every year, with over 160,000 living with moderate-to-severe dementia and around equal number with early symptoms of the disease.ЎЇ This is the reason why the government spends a lot of funding of aged care. Dementia people are usually stayed in the nursing home. It is because their families are not able to take care of them, for physical or time reason. The effect of dementia brings out heavy economic, mental burden to the individual, family, caregivers and the whole society. (Brown & Edwards, 2005)Brown & Edwards (2005) stated ÐŽ®In 2002-2003 the Australian government estimated total expenditure on residential aged care subsidies as $4.3 billion.ЎЇ However, much health expenditure is not specifically attributed to dementia in hospital and other health service statistics. Moreover, Brown & Edwards (2005) pointed out that ÐŽ®Residential care is costed at eight different levels of resident dependency.ЎЇ High level residential care is primarily provided in nursing homes, low level residential care is provided in hostels, and community care is provided for aged clients in their homes. Dementia leads individuals to lose their live experiences, not only does it bring the financial cost to the families, but also the responsibilities to the caregivers.

A range of community programs are adopted by the Australian government to solve the problem of dementia. These include income support, social and community services, disability programs, and housing assistance programs. GovernmentЎЇs support is crucial in order to fulfill the demand for people with dementia. AlzheimerЎЇs Australia is a federation of State and Territory member Associations which provides a range of services to support people with any type of dementia, their families and caregivers throughout the illness. These programs include the Dementia Education and Support Program. Their services include free councelling, carer support groups, education for family carers and workers, and public awareness activities. Moreover, the development of dementia programs and services such as ÐŽ®The Living with Memory Loss ProgramЎЇ, ÐŽ®National Resources ProgramЎЇ and ÐŽ®National Dementia Behaviour Advisory ServiceЎЇ encourages more people to participate and they give more knowledge, preparation to people with dementia and their families.

Australian governmentЎЇs program achieves the mission which prevents and helps with the problem of dementia. First of all, ÐŽ®The Living with Memory Loss programЎЇ allow people with dementia to stay at home instead of going to nursing home or hostel. The program assists people the way to cope with dementia and learn how to deal with the effects of this disease, like memory loss, behavioral changes. If more people are educated about the issue of dementia, prevention and treatment can be done to reduce the prevalence of dementia. Education such as promoting healthy lifestyle, diet can reduce the risk of getting dementia. In order to prevent and decrease the cases of dementia and to find a better treatments and managements, these programs focus on targeted and collaborative research, improved diagnosis, greater community awareness and education; and preventative measures and lifestyle