An exploration of existing and potential models of care and community support for people living with dementia

Celebrating another Australian Government Department of Education National Industry PhD Project, which brings together University of Canberra and Community Home Australia. Rhiannon Toohey is the PhD candidate and will be supervised by Professor Stephen Isbel from UC’s Faculty of Health, and CHA’s COO Nicole Smith.

People living in the community with dementia and their care partners experience better quality of life if they are connected to their local community, have ongoing family and social support and are engaged in activities that continue to give them meaning and purpose. Unfortunately, these components are not routinely incorporated into dementia care. Community Home Australia (CHA) provides a unique service with specific focus on community connection, family and social support, and engagement in meaningful activity. In this project, the delivery of the CHA dementia care service will be evaluated to develop an implementation guide to inform rollout to other communities. If proven successful, this model of person-centred, relational and community-based dementia care could be implemented in other jurisdictions, including rural and remote areas.