Introduction
The risk of dementia increases with age. Dementia affects the
reasoning abilities and short-term memory. Over time, everyday
activities become difficult to manage, even with family support.
Sufferers may be unable to initiate and undertake social, cultural
or physical activities as they did before. As dementia progresses,
it is common to move patients into special care units, since the
burden on family or friends becomes too difficult to handle
(Moyle, McAllister, Venturato, & Adams, 2007). In a report
commissioned by the Department of Health and Aging (DoHA),
the organization Alzheimer’s Australia (2011) describes how
demanding dementia care is in terms of funding and the human
resources needed. The report also describes a failure to meet
the needs of people with dementia and their carers. It states that
patients and their carers have difficulty accessing services and that
the support found is often inflexible and copes poorly with their
special needs. The report raises issues regarding the poor quality
of care in residential facilities. It expresses the concern that 2011
reductions in funding for the dementia program risks leaving
Australia unprepared for the growing numbers of individuals
being diagnosed with dementia.