Project launch for dementia awareness

Sep 20, 2006

The Eastern Australia Dementia Training Study Centre will hold the official project launch for the “Raising Awareness of Dementia Among Acute Care Staff” project at Wollongong Hospital tomorrow (Thursday 21 September).

The launch is timely as it is 100 years to the day that Alois Alzheimer first discovered this condition which comes under the dementia umbrella.

Associate Professor Susan Koch of La Trobe University’s Gerontic Nursing Clinical School will deliver a presentation on “Understanding Dementia” to launch the project.

Director of the Eastern Australia Dementia Training Study Centre at the University of Wollongong’s School of Nursing, Midwifery and Indigenous Health, Associate Professor Victoria Traynor, said the overall project would take place in three acute hospitals where five to 10 per cent of patients were likely to have a dementia.

“Understanding the needs of individuals with dementia and their families remains limited in acute care settings which causes distress and a burden on services,” Professor Traynor said.

The overall aims of the project are to:

• Raise awareness and understanding about dementia

• Enhance (secondary) prevention by improving screening and detection rates of dementias

• Reduce risks by enhancing communication skills among staff

• Improving services longer term by generating a sustained interest in dementia careProfessor Traynor said that a series of workshops would be delivered and members of hospital staff would be trained as “future champions in dementia care”.

The additional opportunity for students to now study in this area has been created through the development of dementia specific postgraduate courses developed by the University of Wollongong.

Media please note

Launch date, time and venue: While Associate Professor Koch will deliver her presentation at 2pm tomorrow at Wollongong Hospital, a special media opportunity for filming/photographs has been made for between 11am to 11.30am Thursday 21 September in the main foyer of Wollongong Hospital (Loftus Street entrance, not Crown Street entrance) which will be decked out with an information stand. Associate Professor Victoria Traynor will be available for interviews.

For further information contact Associate Professor Victoria Traynor on 4221 3471; 0438 219484 (m) or Moira Miller on 4221 4776/5927.

For more information, contact:

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