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However, PainCheck — created by Professors Jeff Hughes and Kreshnik Hoti and Dr Mustafa Atee — is hoping to tackle this issue with this world-first tool, which analyses a patient’s facial movement.
This, combined with some other checks performed by a patient’s carer, may be able to successfully gauge any pain.
For doctors to be able to prescribe more suitable medication can make a world of difference, says Dr Hoti. “Less people are silently suffering from pain,” he explains. “This is life-changing.”
Real revolutions in care
Music therapy has proven beneficial in care practices.Credit: iStock
Caring for those with dementia encompasses so many different groups in the community and there has been a boom in some of the more specific ways to offer support.
From new education tools for those tending to loved ones with younger-onset dementia to new resources that tackle the isolation of those in the LGBTQ+ community with the condition, there has been massive progress made to improve the lives of both those living with dementia and the people who care for them.
Clever ways to engage technology are also detailed in the report, whether using curated playlists to help modulate a patient’s mood or accessing rehabilitation programs through voice-controlled devices like Amazon Alexa.
A boost for Indigenous Australians
Community-controlled art centres are vital in keeping people with dementia strong and connected to younger generations.Credit: iStock
Rates of dementia among First Nations communities outstrips the rest of Australia’s general population by as much as five times.
With a need to both boost awareness in Indigenous communities as well as finding culturally appropriate ways to intervene, experts in dementia have made some incredible inroads.
In one example, Dr Louise Lavrencic from Neuroscience Research Australia took a deep dive into what culturally specific practices can influence rates of dementia in First Nations people. Everything from singing to the gaining of work skills could play a huge role in managing the numbers of those affected.
Other developments around the country include the work of Dr Leander Mitchell from the University of Queensland who has examined how traditional practices, such as yarning circles, can be useful to gauge mental-health issues that can be warning signs of dementia.
Then there is Pauline Mackell, from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and National Ageing Research Institute, who recognises the vital role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled art centres in keeping people with dementia strong and connected to younger generations.
Prevention is (better than) cure
The publication also focuses on one very tangible way to help defeat dementia – through prevention. This could very well be the greatest way to tackle dementia in Australia and reduce the projected number of those with the condition, estimated to reach 812,500 by 2054.
The report offers some easy ways to reduce the chance of dementia (drop the smoking and drinking, increase your physical activity, for starters), and reveals fresh insights in areas such as exploring the link between Type 2 diabetes and the condition, and even the effect of repetitive negative thinking on brain cognition.
A new hope
One thing is for sure, in the fight against dementia, Australia is moving in the right direction, and taking the world with us.
“What is exciting is that this report is a mere snapshot of the exceptional research and researchers that Dementia Australia Research Foundation has supported,” says Professor Samuel.
The Foundation is a young 25 years old and has already made such a difference, but there are so many more wins to come, and more frontiers to explore.
You can read the report at dementia.org.au/more-than-a-cure.
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