Educating the community about dementia and about the help available to sufferers and their families, will be made more accessible to people from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Improving the understanding of dementia and access to care for people in Chinese, Indian and Arab communities, is the focus of a series of short films funded by federal government.
Moving Pictures is a series of 15 films to help people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds look out for the warning signs of dementia, where to find help and the types of dementia care available.
The short films are based on real life stories and experiences from carers in CALD groups about what it’s like to look after a loved one with dementia and navigate the aged care system.
They have been designed to support communities, families and carers to cut through communication and cultural challenges to help vulnerable people.
Early awareness and diagnosis are key to giving people better treatment and improved quality of life.
Within the nation, Mmore than 36 per cent of senior Australians were born outside of Australia, and one in three were born in a non-English speaking country.
The films have been made in five languages—Tamil, Hindi, Cantonese, Mandarin and Arabic.
The films have been based on interviews with carers in ethnic communities, and are complemented by dementia awareness comic strips featuring the five language groups.
More than 430,000 Australians are currently living with dementia, with this number expected to grow to around 1.1 million by 2056.
The National Ageing Research Institute, in conjunction with Curtin University, developed the $563,486 project through the government's $34 million Dementia and Aged Care Services research fund.
See the films here