| Guest lecturer Dr Adrienne Withall (foreground) pictured with the Dea... Guest lecturer Dr Adrienne Withall (foreground) pictured with the Dean of the Division of Health and Behavioural Sciences, Professor Patrick Crookes, and Senior Lecturer in UOW’s School of Nursing , Midwifery and Indigenous Health, Dr Margaret Wallace |
Guest lecture targets younger onset dementia
29 Apr 2008 | Bernie Goldie
A Research Fellow whose main focus is on younger people with dementia presented a guest lecture at the University of Wollongong on Monday 28 April.
The onset of dementia in a younger age group is being increasingly recognised as a serious medical and social issue. Alzheimer’s Australia has recently begun a major publicity campaign trying to raise more awareness of this issue.
The lecture, open to the public, was presented by Dr Adrienne Withall who is a Research Fellow at the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre for Assessment and Better Care Outcomes at the University of New South Wales. She also works as a Research Psychologist within the Academic Department of Old Age Psychiatry at the Prince of Wales Hospital.
Dr Withall’s main focus is on younger people with dementia – determining their prevalence, service needs and quality of life as well as the experiences of their caregivers and family members.
She was the recipient of an Alzheimer’s Australia Research Grant for 2008 in the area of younger onset dementia. Younger onset dementia is defined as dementia occurring before the age of 65. Although less common than late onset dementia, it is associated with significant losses and distress for both patients and their caregivers with qualitatively different issues to address.
The UOW lecture was held in the Graduate School of Medicine Auditorium while it was also videconferenced to UOW’s Shoalhaven Campus in Nowra and to Queensland University of Technology.
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