About Dementia

What is dementia, who gets it and some of its most common forms.

Information about the early signs of dementia, the techniques used to diagnose dementia and
the importance of an early and correct diagnosis.

Key facts and statistics - Updated 2024

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. The Guide contains information about the impact dementia may have on a person, the treatment, support and services they may need.
The 4th edition of this guide is now available to read online, download a pdf, listen to an audio version or request a print copy.

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.

How to promote the consistent use of appropriate, inclusive and non stigmatising language when talking or writing about dementia and people living with dementia.

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.

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.

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.

The strategies featured in this guide have been used by the authors in their research studies and reflect approaches and techniques that families have found to be most helpful to understand and effectively respond to the changes brought about by dementia.

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.

This pocket guide will help you to better understand Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia, the conditions, and how they are diagnosed and treated.

An audio version of The 36-Hour Day - an essential resource for families who love and care for people with Alzheimer disease. Whether a person has Alzheimer disease or another form of dementia, he or she will face a host of problems. The 36-Hour Day will help family members and caregivers address these challenges and simultaneously cope with their own emotions and needs. Featuring useful takeaway messages and informed by recent research into the causes of and the search for therapies to prevent or cure dementia.

This audioBook is filled with stories, both moving and optimistic: from those living with dementia to those planning the end of life, from the scientists unlocking the mysteries of the brain to the therapists using art and music to enrich the lives of individuals, from the campaigners battling for greater compassion in care to the families trying to make sense of this 'incomprehensible de-creation of the self'. It explores memory, language, identity, ageing and the notion of what it truly means to care.

Reimagining Dementia is a moving combination of medicine and memoir, peeling back the untold history of dementia, from the story of Solomon Fuller, a black doctor whose research at the turn of the twentieth century anticipated important aspects of what we know about dementia today, to what has been gained and lost with the recent bonanza of funding for Alzheimer's at the expense of other forms of the disease. In demystifying dementia, Dr. Powell helps us understand it with clearer eyes, from the point of view of both physician and caregiver. Ultimately, she wants us all to know that dementia is not only about loss—it's also about the preservation of dignity and hope.

This summary report presents a snapshot of key findings from the Dementia in Australia online report as at the end of 2022 and presents statistics on dementia prevalence, burden of disease, deaths, expenditure, carers of people with dementia and the use of health and aged care services among people with dementia. Refer to the Dementia in Australia online report for the most up-to-statistics on dementia in Australia.