Better health for people living with dementia resources

Knowledge about dementia is expanding as the voices of people with dementia, research and clinical experience all contribute to building the knowledge base. This list of resources points health professionals to key documents and websites that have national relevance and are publicly available.

Dementia Australia library

For information and advice: National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500.

Library and Information Service.

The national library service provides access to a comprehensive collection of print and digital resources about dementia.

Clinical guidelines

Clinical practice guidelines and principles of care for people with people with dementia. 2016. Guideline Adaptation Committee. NHMRC Partnership Centre for Dealing with Cognitive and Related Functional Decline in Older People.

Keeping a sense of self and adjusting to change

Community café toolkit: Your manual and tools for establishing a café for people living with dementia. 2016. Dementia Australia.

Connections matter: Helping older people stay socially active. 2014. beyondblue.

Family and friends matter: how to stay connected to a person living with dementia. 2013. Alzheimer’s Australia.

Living alone with dementia. Dementia Australia

Nurturing the heart: creativity, art therapy and dementia, by Patricia Baines. 2007. Alzheimer’s Australia.

Relate, motivate, appreciate, by Cameron J Camp. 2013. Alzheimer’s Australia Vic. Includes a video and Montessori resource.

Resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. Alzheimer’s Australia.

Resources for culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Alzheimer’s Australia.

We can, we can, we can: purpose and pleasure for people living with dementia. A resource for activity workers, volunteers, leisure/lifestyle and recreation professionals, families, friends and carers. 2012. Alzheimer’s Australia Vic.

Health and wellbeing

Best practice food and nutrition for aged care homes, Edition 2. 2015. Nutrition Services, Central Coast Local Health District.

Dementia and nutrition in the home, Discussion paper 14, November 2015. Alzheimer’s Australia NSW.

Eating well with dementia. 2020. Department of Health and Human Services, Tasmania.

Eating well with dementia: a carer’s guide. 2014. Nutrition and Diet Resources UK.

Eating well: a nutrition resource for older people and their carers. 2015. Nutrition Services, Central Coast Local Health District.

Intimacy and sexual issues. Helpsheet 19. Alzheimer’s Australia, 2012.

Preventing falls and harm from falls in older people: Best practice guidelines for Australian community care. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare. 2009.

The benefits of physical activity and exercise for people living with dementia. Discussion paper 11, November 2014. Alzheimer’s Australia NSW.

Your brain matters. An Alzheimer’s Australia program to maximise brain health. Includes:

• BrainyApp: an app to raise awareness of the risk factors for dementia and to help you be brain healthy
• Your brain matters: information for health professionals
• Dementia risk reduction: a practical guide for health and lifestyle professionals.

Speech and communicating

Dementia: communication. 2014. Better Health Channel, Victorian State Government.

Personal life history booklet. 2011. Produced for the study ‘Developing and testing a strategy to enhance a palliative approach and care continuity for people who have dementia’, led by Alzheimer’s Australia WA.

Speech pathologists working with older people. 2014. Speech Pathology Australia.

At home with dementia

National Dementia Helpline. 1800 100 500. Alzheimer’s Australia. A telephone information and support service available across Australia for people with dementia, their carers, families and friends.

Dementia enabling design website. Alzheimer’s Australia. For information, tools and advice on dementia design.

Assessing fitness to drive. Austroads website contains information for health professionals.

Assistive technology: Prompts and reminders. Alzheimer’s Australia WA.

At home with dementia: A manual for people with dementia and their carers. 2011. NSW Family and Community Services: Ageing, Disability and Home Care.

Dementia-friendly environments: a guide for residential care. 2014. Department of Health, Victoria.

Dementia-friendly home app. 2016. Alzheimer’s Australia Vic. This tablet app provides you with ideas to make the home more accessible for people living with dementia.

Dementia: Osborne Park Hospital guide for occupational therapists in clinical practice. 2011. Department of Health, WA.

Driving and dementia: a decision aid. 2014. University of Wollongong.

Driving – each state branch of Alzheimer’s Australia has information about driving in that state, and links to state-based organisations.

Independent Living Centres Australia. For information about assistive technology, call 1300 885 886 or go to the website to be directed to the centre for your state or territory. Or download the handbook: Helpful handbook for memory loss: Products, equipment, information, advice. 2015. Independent Living Centre NSW.

Living with dementia. 2009. Baptist Care. Resources to guide you in how the environment, technology and you can help you to maximise independence, safety, security and leisure for people living with dementia at home.

Planning for Transport in Self-Directed Care, Fightdementia.org Australia

Changed behaviours

A clinician’s field guide to good practice: managing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. 2014. Dementia Collaborative Research Centre: Assessment and Better Care and the University of New South Wales.

Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Service (DBMAS). 24-hour helpline: 1800 699 799 or  online library. Contains many good resources.

Carers National Dementia Helpline. 1800 100 500. Alzheimer’s Australia. A telephone information and support service available across Australia for people with dementia, their carers, families and friends.

Best practice counselling and support service models, final report. 2011. Alzheimer’s Australia Vic.

Best practice guidelines for carer support group leaders. 2012. Alzheimer’s Australia NSW.

Carer Gateway. 1800 422 737. This is the Australian Government’s gateway providing practical information for carers.

Carers Australia. 1800 242 636. The national peak body for carers provides advocacy, information, advice and counselling for carers.

Quality Support Groups Research Project: A report on Dementia Support Groups in NSW. Phases I, II and III. 2009. Alzheimer’s Australia NSW.  (scroll down page to the three reports)

Support for carers: A practical guide to services for families and friends of people with dementia. 2015. Alzheimer’s Australia.

Carers Gateway.

Planning ahead

Advance Care Planning Australia.

Future planning and advance care planning: Why it needs to be different for people with dementia and other forms of cognitive decline. 2016. Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre and Hammond Care.

Planning dementia care through case conferencing. 2016. Caresearch Palliative Care Knowledge Network.

Planning for the end of life for people with dementia, a report for Alzheimer’s Australia, part one by Professor Colleen Cartwright. Paper 23, part one. March 2011. Alzheimer’s Australia.

Planning for the end of life for people with dementia, a report for Alzheimer’s Australia, part  two by Professor Colleen Cartwright. Paper 23, Part Two. May 2011. Alzheimer’s Australia.

Preventing financial abuse of people with dementia. Discussion paper 10, June 2014 Alzheimer’s Australia NSW.

Start to talk. A website about planning ahead.

What prevents people with dementia making plans for their future. Discussion paper 4, March 2012. Alzheimer’s Australia NSW.

Transition to residential aged care

My aged care. 1800 200 422. Information and advice about accessing aged care services, eligibility, assessment and costs.

The most difficult decision: dementia and the move into residential aged care. Discussion Paper 5. 2012. Alzheimer’s Australia NSW.

Palliative care and end of life care

Models of dementia care: person-centred, palliative and supportive. Discussion paper 35. June 2013. A report for Alzheimer’s Australia on death and dementia by Professor Julian Hughes.

Wrestling with dementia and death. Paper 34. June 2013. A report for Alzheimer’s Australia by Professor Jenny Abbey.