Tackling dementia in Indigenous communities

Health and aged care workers are putting their thinking caps on to discuss possible ways of tackling dementia in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Tackling dementia in Indigenous communities

Health and aged care workers are putting their thinking caps on to discuss possible ways of tackling dementia in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

They're getting together to brainstorm methods of educating and training Indigenous communities on dementia and the lifestyle risk factors associated with the disease.

Indigenous communities are affected by dementia at a rate three to five times higher than the non-Indigenous Australian population, and these rates are increasing.

Fred Tanner is the chairman of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Dementia Advisory Group.

He told Aileen Phillips there are a number of barriers that need to be overcome.

(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full interview)