PLANNING for the Dementia Centre of Excellence at Curtin University’s Bentley campus will start immediately, with external stakeholder consultation in the next few months.
The Centre will be a platform for an integrated research program on improving approaches to health and independence for people living with dementia and their caregivers.
Curtin University Vice-Chancellor Deborah Terry said the centre would provide workforce training programs for community, hospital and residential care staff.
“A key element of the new centre’s design will be making it a dementia-friendly environment to support a range of activities for people living with dementia, as well as their carers and health professionals,” she said.
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READ NOWProfessor Terry said the centre would focus on prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of dementia, which was the number one cause of disability for people aged 65 and over.
“With more than 400,000 Australians living with dementia and 291,000 carers, the new centre will aim to ensure better care by providing training opportunities for Curtin health sciences students to gain vital real-world experience in caring for people living with dementia,” she said.
The Federal Government and Curtin have each contributed $10 million towards the centre’s construction.