industry & policy
A new paper posits a solution to the problem of healthcare access for homeless people with dementia .
Clare Beard interviewed by Dallas Bastian
People who are homeless and living with cognitive impairment often fall through the cracks , and different parts of the health system must collaborate more closely to provide the most appropriate support .
That ’ s the call from Alzheimer ’ s Australia national interim chief executive Maree McCabe following the release of the body ’ s new discussion paper , Homelessness and Dementia .
The paper aims to address sector knowledge gaps and provide information to improve services and outcomes for people with cognitive impairment who are homeless .
Following its release , Alzheimer ’ s Australia urged the homelessness , dementia , health and aged-care sectors to work more closely and share knowledge , training and services to help ensure those who are homeless and living with dementia receive the most appropriate support .
McCabe says little is known about the needs of the many homeless people living with cognitive impairment , including dementia , adding that they often fall through the cracks for that reason .
“ We need to work together to ensure they have access to services and supports that meet their needs .”
The peak body says conservative estimates put the rate of dementia among homeless people at 10 per cent of the overall homeless population .
Aged Care Insite sits down with Clare Beard , homelessness and dementia project officer with Alzheimer ’ s Australia SA , to discuss the additional challenges homeless people with cognitive impairment face and the knowledge gaps the discussion paper aims to address .
The state of minds
ACI : How common is cognitive impairment , including dementia , among the homeless population in Australia , and are dementia risk factors more prevalent than in the general population ? CB : In the course of providing the background for this paper , we undertook extensive consultation among a number of different homelessness services here in South Australia . Generally , people had not recorded specific numbers of people who were showing cognitive impairment , but
14 agedcareinsite . com . au