Last week, the new Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Richard Colbeck, launched the National Institute for Dementia Research’s (NIDR) 2019 Strategic Roadmap for Dementia Research and Translation.
Mr Colbeck says that after the Federal Government’s $200 million ‘Boosting Dementia Research’ initiative in 2015, the NIDR has “sharpened the focus” for future dementia research efforts.
Since then, 133 grants have been awarded to 280 leading dementia researchers – creating an estimated over one million new hours of dementia research.
This year, the two big focus points are dementia prevention and addressing the high rates of dementia in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) communities.
Research will be focusing on how to achieve earlier diagnosis of dementia to reduce risk and prevent its onset in the general population – including the development of “less invasive” approaches to dementia detection (like memory tests).
And in our Indigenous communities, researchers will be looking into how we can build more ‘culturally safe’ and effective treatment methods for ATSI elders – and improve dementia awareness and education for ATSI people of all ages to reduce rates of the condition.
Dementia remains the second leading cause of death in Australia and one of our biggest health challenges – so any new research aimed at improving the lives of older people is good news to us!
