Models of care to address unmet of older Indigenous with dementia their families and communites living in remote WA

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The health and unmet needs of older Indigenous people, particularly in remote and rural areas is generally under researched. It is well known that the life expectancy of indigenous people is approximately 20 years younger than non-Indigenous counterparts. Many illnesses generally experienced by non Indigenous people in older ages (e.g. 75 years) are seen at a much younger age in Indigenous populations. These conditions include dementia, falls, incontinence, premature heart disease and strokes. Over the last 4 years the applicants of this project have started to address some of the health related problems faced by older Indigenous people, particularly the challenging area of dementia. The authors have developed a culturally appropriate assessment tool to help determine if an older Indigenous person has dementia. This has been very successful and is now frequently used by health professionals in remote and rural areas of Australia. A survey is in the final stages of completion to determine the estimated number of people in remote areas of the Kimberley who manifest signs and symptoms of dementia and associated old age diseases. Preliminary data sadly indicate that the frequency of dementia is higher than expected for people of this age group. The next phase of this project is to determine the unmet needs of this vulnerable group, by interviewing those with dementia and their families, communities and service providers in remote areas of Kimberley and Pilbara. This will determine culturally appropriate and practical ways to provide care to assist those with this condition and their families and communities.