Region Leads In Caring For Those With Dementia
Illawarra Mercury
Tuesday June 26, 2007
A WORLD expert on dementia has praised a national program based in Wollongong that deals with the disease.
The Eastern Australia Dementia and Training Study Centre only opened at the University of Wollongong last year and has already attracted Professor Laura Gitlin to the Illawarra.Prof Gitlin, from the United States, began a four-day tour of the region's health services yesterday, talking to aged care providers about new best practices and innovations. She will also present a public lecture today on how the environment can help improve the quality of life for a person with dementia and their family carers.Prof Gitlin said she was impressed with the Federal Government's national dementia strategy.The Government has set up four centres for training and research, including the one at UOW, which is the leading project co-ordinator."Australia has made dementia a national priority ... that's really important," Prof Gitlin said."There are about 200,000 people with dementia (in Australia) and that number is expected to increase exponentially to half a million by 2040."This is a very important public health concern and a worldwide concern."Prof Gitlin is director of the Centre for Applied Research on Aging and Health at Thomas Jefferson University in the US and will present the findings of some of her research while in Wollongong.About 50-80 per cent of dementia patients were cared for at home, Prof Gitlin said, which could have an enormous effect on care givers."Because of the extreme nature of the care that they need to provide their loved one, it often puts them at risk for poorer health and at higher risk of mortality," Prof Gitlin said.Her research has included testing different approaches to family care-giving to enhance the sense of well-being and reduce the burden.Prof Gitlin's free public lecture will be held at the UOW Graduate School of Medicine auditorium at 4pm.
© 2007 Illawarra Mercury
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