University and Area Health Service join forces to improve dementia care

Jul 26, 2006

The University of Wollongong (UOW) and the South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Area Health Service (SESIAHS) have joined forces to improve awareness and understanding about dementia in the Illawarra region.

UOW and SESIAHS have received a $30,000 Community Support Grant through the Federal Government’s “Dementia as a National Health Priority” which will allow the two organisations to help build understanding about dementia among acute care staff.

The Director of the Eastern Australia Dementia Training Study Centre at UOW’s School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health, Associate Professor Victoria Traynor, said the majority of in-patients (up to 70 per cent) in local hospitals were over the age of 65.

“Due to the increasing prevalence of dementia with ageing we are set to have many more patients with dementia in our hospitals. Therefore, to deliver effective and efficient care it is important that staff in acute care have a thorough understanding of dementia,” Professor Traynor said.

A project officer, Ms Moira Miller, has now been recruited to explore staff’s needs in regard to dementia education and to develop and deliver relevant workshops. Ms Miller is a registered nurse with the Aged Care Assessment Team at Shoalhaven Aged and Extended Care Service in Berry.

Ms Miller said that due to the collaborative nature of the project a diverse range of expertise and knowledge would be channelled into designing the workshops.

“A unique feature of this project will be the development of ‘dementia champions’ in our hospitals that will ensure a sustained interest in dementia and the dissemination of up-to-date knowledge,” Ms Miller said.

For further information contact Associate Professor Victoria Traynor on (02) 4221 3471/5927; or Ms Moira Miller, on (02) 4464 6915.

For more information, contact:

media@uow.edu.au
University of Wollongong
Ph: (02) 4221 5942; fax (02) 4221 3128