‘Act now for a dementia friendly future’ this Dementia Action Week? What role can rural researchers play?

Approximately 400,000 Australians live with a diagnosis of dementia. Many of these people will live in rural, regional and remote locations where access to appropriate and timely care can be limited.??

This week (18 - 24 September) marks Dementia Action Week with individuals, communities and organisations being asked to ‘Act now for a dementia friendly future’.?

Manna Institute is ready to answer this call with researchers working to identify solutions that have been developed specifically for people living in rural, regional and remote communities.?

As part of the focus on health across the lifespan the Manna Institute is exploring how best to engage both existing and emerging healthcare workforces, individual health, and priority populations to come up with these solutions.??

Two Manna Institute researchers currently working to support a dementia friendly future are Dr Dan Wadsworth and Dr Mia Schaumberg.?

Dr Wadsworth highlights that helping communities to be proactive about dementia prevention is key to building a dementia friendly future.??

“Many people think that dementia is a natural part of ageing, but in fact so much of what we do in our middle age, and even our early years, directly contributes to our risk of developing dementia as we get older. Not only that, as older adults we can still do things to reduce our dementia risk or even manage symptoms.” continues Dr Wadsworth.?

The work of Dr Wadsworth and Dr Schaumberg targets achievable modifiable risk factors, such as physical activity, social connection, mental wellbeing, and education.??

Dr Wadsworth reiterates that “building better awareness of dementia, and understanding of the behaviours that contribute towards its development, our work aims to help empower rural and regional Australian communities to tackle it head on.”??

A recently launched online resource and public awareness campaign Face Dementia is available to encourage people to learn the signs about dementia, recognise them in themselves or others and reach out for support.??

Manna Institute is a virtual institute of leading researchers working with industry and community partners to improve mental health and wellbeing in rural, regional and remote Australia. By developing of place-based research capacity Manna Institute equips communities to take ownership of the mental health and wellbeing of their members, to build capacity and implement targeted solutions for priority populations.?