Responsive behaviours in people with intellectual disability living with dementia

Responsive behaviours among people with intellectual disability living with dementia

Supporting people with intellectual disability living with dementia: Experiences of health, disability, and aged care workers

Currently recruiting participants!

We are looking for professionals working in the health, disability and aged care sectors to complete a one-off anonymous survey about their experiences supporting people with intellectual disability living with dementia.

Inclusion criteria for participants taking part in this study include:

Being aged 18+ years old
Having experience providing care to or supporting people with intellectual disability living with dementia while working in a paid role within the Australian health, disability or aged care sectors

Exclusion criteria for those who are not eligible to participate in the study include:

Participants that do not meet the above criteria

Find out more in the participant information sheet and consent form.

This study has been approved by the UNSW Human Research Advisory Panel D: Biomedical [Project Id: iRECS7715].

About this project

This project will use multiple research methods to:

improve our understanding of the health and mental health profiles of people with intellectual disability living with dementia in NSW,
build an evidence-base to support the development of enhanced understanding of responsive behaviours among people intellectual disability living with dementia, and
build capacity of people with intellectual disability and their supporters through co-design of a suite of accessible resources about responsive behaviours and dementia.

Why this project is needed

The life expectancy of Australians with intellectual disability has increased over recent decades, resulting in a growing population of older people with intellectual disability.

People with intellectual disability are more likely to develop dementia, and often at a younger age, than people without intellectual disability. It is known that people with intellectual disability generally experience poorer health outcomes than people without intellectual disability, but more research focusing on the health of people with intellectual disability living with dementia is needed.

Similarly, little research has focused on understanding responsive behaviours (often called behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia) among people with intellectual disability living with dementia.

This project is being done as part of a Dementia Australia Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to Dr Rachael Cvejic. The Fellowship is funded by the Dementia Australia Research Foundation and the Bartle Pathway to Care.

Project team

The project lead is Rachael Cvejic. The project team includes Julian Trollor, Simone Reppermund, and Dr Tom Morris, Head of Research and Information Excellence, Dementia Support Australia.