About Dementia

• About dementia by Dementia Australia

  What is dementia, who gets it and some of its most common forms.
• Diagnosing dementia by Dementia Australia

  Information about the early signs of dementia, the techniques used to diagnose dementia and
  the importance of an early and correct diagnosis.
• Dementia statistics by Dementia Australia

  Key facts and statistics - Updated February 2025

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  Types of dementia by Dementia Australia

  Provides information on many of the different types of dementia.

• The Dementia Guide by Dementia Australia

  Publication Date: 2024; edited 2025

  For people living with dementia, their families and carers. The Dementia Guide is an important resource for any person impacted by any form of dementia, of any age. This resource contains information about the impact dementia may have on a person, the treatment, support and services they may need. It is available to read online, download as a pdf, listen to an audio version or request a print copy.
• The Younger Onset Dementia Guide by Dementia Australia

  Publication Date: 2025

  The Younger Onset Dementia Guide is for anyone impacted by younger onset dementia. The information in this guide is divided into four parts. Part 1: About dementia and younger onset dementia, Part 2: Supports, services, and advice, Part 3: Support and information for carers and family members., Part 4: Useful tools.

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  Genetics, Dementia and Families : Webinar

  Many people are concerned about a family history of dementia and whether there could be any hereditary factors. In this webinar, genetic counsellor Adrienne Sexton will present a brief overview of genetics of Alzheimer disease and other types of dementia. She gives examples of common questions about family histories, genetic testing, and things that people consider before deciding about a gene test. This webinar will also talk about genetic counselling and how it can help people with dementia and their family members.

• Talking to someone with dementia

  A guide to ways in which people with dementia say good communication would improve their lives. This resource has been developed by the Dementia Australia Advisory Committee (DAAC). The national representative group made up of people living with dementia.
• Dementia language guidelines

  How to promote the consistent use of appropriate, inclusive and non stigmatising language when talking or writing about dementia and people living with dementia.
• Discrimination and dementia – enough is enough by Dementia Australia

  Dementia Action Week Report 2021
  For all the increased recognition of human rights over the past decades and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities coming into force, people living with dementia still report experiencing discrimination and not feeling fully included within society. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities affirms that all persons with all types of disabilities (including people living with dementia) must enjoy the same rights as everyone else, including rights to autonomy in decision-making, independent living, community inclusion, and liberty. The challenge, however, is to shift attitudes, and design and deliver services, businesses and infrastructure that are flexible, innovative, accessible, appropriate and culturally safe to ensure people with dementia, their families and carers are well supported and included within the Australian community.

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  Hold the Moment Podcast by Dementia Australia

  Hold the Moment is a podcast by people living with dementia. Covering topics on diagnosis, relationships, sleep, exercise and more.

• What I wish people knew about dementia by Wendy Mitchell

  Publication Date: 2022

  When Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with young-onset dementia at the age of fifty-eight, her brain was overwhelmed with images of the last stages of the disease - those familiar tropes, shortcuts and clichés that we are fed by the media, or even our own health professionals. But her diagnosis far from represented the end of her life. Instead, it was the start of a very different one. Wise, practical and life affirming, What I Wish People Knew About Dementia combines anecdotes, research and Wendy Mitchell's own brilliant wit and wisdom to tell readers exactly what she wishes they knew about dementia.
• Is It Alzheimer's? 101 Answers to Your Most Pressing Questions About Memory Loss and Dementia by Peter V. Rabins

  Publication Date: 2025

  Has someone in your family been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease—or are you worried about developing dementia yourself? In this revised second edition of Is It Alzheimer's?, medical expert Dr. Peter V. Rabins educates both new and current readers with updated answers to often-asked questions about memory loss and dementia.
  Available as an audiobook and an ebook
• Mayo Clinic on Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, Revised and Updated by Jonathan Graff-Radford; Angela Lunde

  Publication Date: 2025

  In this fully revised and updated third edition of Mayo Clinic's on Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias leading experts at Mayo Clinic answer patients and caregivers' most pressing questions, including:
  Are there ways you can lower your risk of Alzheimer's Disease and other dementias? Can they be prevented?
  Can you live well with dementia? If so, how? How do sleeplessness, hearing loss, social isolation, and other risk factors contribute to cognitive decline? How can exercise and healthy foods preserve brain function?
  What are the neurological changes that can occur in the brain, and how is normal aging different from aging with dementia? What day-to-day coping strategies can help people live well with dementia? How can caregivers care for themselves?
  Available as an audiobook and an ebook
• Demystifying Dementia by Rose Capp

  Publication Date: 2024

  What is dementia? Many of us live in fear of it, imagining the horror of losing our memories and our identities. But it does not need to terrify us. A good life can be lived with dementia. In this marvellously informative book, Rose Capp, aged-care specialist and educator, policy advisor and choir-director, tells us how. She shows us how to see the world from the perspectives of people living with dementia.
• The 36-Hour Day (7th edition) by Nancy L. Mace; Peter V. Rabins

  Publication Date: 2021

  For 40 years, The 36-Hour Day has been the leading work in the field for caregivers of those with dementia. Written by experts with decades of experience caring for individuals with memory loss, Alzheimer's, and other dementias, the book is widely known for its authoritativeness and compassionate approach to care. Featuring everything from the causes of dementia to managing its early stages to advice on caring for those in the later stages of the disease.
• Mind Your Brain: The Essential Australian Guide to Dementia by Dr Kailas Roberts

  Publication Date: 2021

  There are steps you can take to reduce your risk of dementia, to delay its onset, and to ease the journey if the condition does occur. There are also effective interventions and treatments now available to address dementia-related symptoms. Dr Kailas Roberts who works as a specialist in memory loss and dementia uses plain and accessible language to explain how dementia affects the brain and body, what to expect in the event of a diagnosis, and how to manage each step along the way.

• Dementia in Australia (2025) by AIHW

  Dementia is a significant and growing health and aged care issue in Australia that has a substantial impact on the health and quality of life of people with the condition, as well as for their family and friends. This online report provides a comprehensive picture of dementia in Australia, including the latest statistics on dementia prevalence, burden of disease, deaths, expenditure, as well as the use of health and aged care services among people with dementia and information on carers of people with dementia.
• The unexpected smile, warm hug or trusting touch: People living with dementia still have much to offer us. by Rose Capp (2016)

  Advocates have worked hard to educate the community about the disease. Disappointingly, mainstream commentary continues to characterise the disease in misleading, even alarmist, language and to use terminology that disempowers the person living with the condition. This reinforces the fears and stigmas that exist in the broader community.
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  Words and Images to Use in Dementia and Caregiving (2022)

  Developed by the GBHI Dementia Community – Research Advisory Panel (DC-RAP). With the support of the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), based at the University of California, San Francisco and Trinity College Dublin, the DC-RAP is a group of volunteers representing people living with dementia, family caregivers, and people at varying risk of dementia who provide their voice and experiences in the development of programs and research targeting aging and dementia.

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  Dementia Australia Website

  Section: About dementia
  The information in this section defines dementia, describes the symptoms and causes of dementia and explains the difference between normal memory problems and dementia.
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  Planning ahead

  Planning ahead is thinking about your future, and putting things in place so that your choices will be known and acted on if you cannot express these choices yourself later in life.
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  Dementia in my family

  An age appropriate website for children and young adults experiencing dementia in their family