Greek & Italian residents with dementia in aged care: Language use, psychiatric medication,quaity of life & satisfaction

Funded Activity Summary

Australia has a growing older migrant population and rates of dementia in residential care are high. Communication difficulties for older persons with limited English language proficiency and dementia provide a particular challenge in terms of meeting care needs effectively in residential settings. The current project will compare older Greek and Italian background persons with dementia who are residing in either mainstream or ethno-specific residential care facilities in Melbourne. The study will extend our pilot research, which focused on language use, and will also measure a number of factors that may influence the rate of communication, including prescribed psychiatric medication, language proficiency, cognitive impairment and behavioural-psychiatric symptoms. Additionally, the project will compare factors that may differ between the facility types, to provide further understanding of services offered. Furthermore, measures of satisfaction with the facility and quality of life will be included to provide an indication of the clinical significance of residing in a mainstream or ethno-specific aged care facility. The expected outcome of the study is to provide additional data in a very under researched and increasingly important field, to inform policy and practice, with the aim of improving the quality of life for older persons from diverse backgrounds in residential care.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2007

End Date: 01-01-2009

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Strategic Awards

Funding Amount: $194,543.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Ophthalmology and optometry not elsewhere classified

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Aged Care | Dementia | Language

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