Ageing, Cognition and Dementia in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: A Life Cycle Approach

Rachelle Arkles, Lisa Jackson Pulver, Hamish Robertson, Brian Draper, Simon Chalkley, Anthony Broe

Research output: Book/Research ReportResearch report

Abstract

Dementia is emerging as a global phenomenon, although it is predominantly defined in the literature as a, ‘Western diagnostic category’. There is general acceptance that ‘Culture’, namely, values, practices and beliefs, play an important role in understanding dementia, from uncovering risk factors for the disease, in particular, the interplay of environmental and genetic factors (Burchard, Ziv et al. 2003), to influencing what has been described as, “help-seeking behaviours”, across different populations (Dilworth-Anderson and Gibson 2002). In Aboriginal communities, both in Australia and other comparative societies, what we know about the nature and extent of dementia, and of its sub-types, is still in its infancy, as is knowledge about the experiences, perceptions and meaning of dementia for Aboriginal people, the causes of, and risk factors for cognitive decline, and the need for and provision of dementia services (Pollitt 1997; Jervis and Manson 2002; LoGiudice, Smith et al. 2006). This Report is a review of the literature to-date on dementia in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. We reviewed the research in comparable Indigenous communities internationally as well as dementia research in non-Indigenous populations, both nationally and internationally, to illuminate cognitive development, growth and decline across the life-cycle and its application to the ‘brain health’ of Indigenous Australians. The Review was conducted over a three year period between late 2006 and 2009.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationSydney, N.S.W.
PublisherNeuroscience Research Australia and University of New South Wales. Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit
Number of pages75
ISBN (Print)9780646537917
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Bibliographical note

© The University of New South Wales, as represented by the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre 2010. This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Dementia Collaborative Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052 or posted at http://www.dementia.unsw.edu.au.

Keywords

  • Aboriginal Australians
  • Torres Strait Islanders
  • ageing
  • cognition
  • dementia
  • mental health

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