Monash University has received more than $1 million of government funding to update the country’s clinical guidelines for dementia care.
First established in 2016, the Clinical Care Practice Guidelines and the Principles of Care for People with Dementia provide health professionals and carers in aged care, primary care, and hospital settings with evidence-based recommendations on how to deliver best-practice dementia care.
“The forthcoming update will ensure the guideline recommendations remain at the forefront of dementia care, reflecting the most current scientific evidence and best practices in dementia risk reduction, diagnosis and management,” reads a statement from the Department of Health and Aged Care.
The updated guidelines will ensure dementia care continues to be “current and effective”, said Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells. “We want our health professionals to have access to up-to-date and research-informed clinical guidelines so they can continue to provide the highest standard of care to Australians living with dementia,” she added.
Led by Monash University’s National Centre for Healthy Ageing, the two-year undertaking will bring together a team of national and international clinical and academic experts in dementia care along with partners such as Dementia Australia and other key organisations.
The updated guidelines will reflect new evidence-based research accumulated domestically and internationally over the past eight years.
“The previous Australian guidelines were developed in 2016 and have been an excellent resource that has actively guided dementia care. Since then, much research has been undertaken to improve understanding, practice and treatments, and it is therefore timely to refresh and update the 2016 guidelines,” Professor Velandai Srikanth – geriatrician and director of the National Centre for Healthy Ageing – told Community Care Review.
Although it is too early to be specific about what changes will be made, Professor Srikanth said it’s anticipated there will be a number of new and expanded guidelines.
“We would also see the guidelines addressing important issues of access to evidence-based healthcare and services for many people with dementia, that are in part related to stigma, loss of agency, and a lack of training and knowledge among health and care professionals,” he said.
Professor Srikanth added: “These issues are amplified for vulnerable communities such as First Nations Australians, people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and younger people with dementia. This guideline update will consider these issues and work with relevant support or advocacy groups to ensure the guidelines are suitable for the diverse consumers, carers and the professions that we hope will use the guideline.”
We will work in close partnership with the support organisations
There will also be a companion guide that will provide evidence-based information to people impacted by dementia – including people living with all types of dementia, their carers, families and the wider public.
Professor Srikanth – who is co-chair of the project – told CCR that, crucially, the guideline development team includes people with lived experience of dementia “who will actively contribute to the planning and development, to ensure that the guidelines appropriately reflect their needs and preferences.”
Engagement with people living with dementia will be through surveys, interviews and workshops. “We will work in close partnership with the support organisations who work closely with them in all aspects of the guideline update – from prioritisation of the clinical questions and care areas to be addressed, evaluating the evidence and drafting the guideline content to reflect their needs and preferences, and to ensure the recommendations are accessible through the companion materials for people living with dementia,” he said.
The draft guideline will also undergo an independent review and a public consultation process. “The independent review process will involve people with lived experience, health professionals and methodological experts outside of our team who will provide feedback on the comprehensiveness of evidence, certainty of recommendations, relevance and feasibility of recommendations, and rigour and transparency of the development process.”
Professor Srikanth told CCR the ultimate purpose of updating the guidelines is to empower people to provide the best possible care to people living with dementia. “The guidelines will therefore support health and aged care professionals to provide a high standard of dementia care in partnership with people living with dementia and their carers.”
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