Bulletin

Issue: June 2006

News

Evaluation of Dementia Health Initiative

La Trobe University psychologist, Dr Colleen Doyle, is Project Director of the $1.3 million national evaluation of the Dementia Health Priority Initiative, an Australian Government initiative to help people with dementia.

Dr Doyle

Dr Doyle is a member of the Lincoln Centre for Ageing and Community Care Research in the University's Australian Institute of Primary Care.

Announced in the 2005 Federal Budget, the Dementia Initiative involves an outlay of $320.6 million over five years to support people with dementia and their carers.

Dr Doyle will work with three team leaders in the evaluation consortium: Associate Professor David Dunt, University of Melbourne, Dr Richard Rosewarne, Applied Aged Care Solutions, and Ms Lynne Pezzullo, Access Economics.

Trained in psychology and epidemiology, Dr Doyle's main interests in gerontology are in dementia care, quality assurance and residential care.

The team she heads will evaluate more than 17 projects, part of the three large measures contained in the Dementia Initiative: research to improve care initiatives and early intervention programs; creation of over 2,000 dementia specific Extended Aged Care at Home places; and additional dementia specific training for up to 17,000 aged care workers.

Dr Doyle says the objective of the national evaluation is to describe what effect the initiative has had on people with dementia and their carers and to evaluate what added value has been given to dementia care in Australia as a result of the Initiative.

She says a major challenge of Australia's ageing population is the predicted increase in people affected by dementia, currently some 200,000.