$44m commitment to dementia
Alzheimers New Zealand welcomes today’s budget announcement of $44m to dementia over the next four years. This funding
commitment shows Governments recognition of the looming dementia crisis.
The budget announcement comes as Alzheimers New Zealand enters into its second year of its National Dementia Strategy,
launched in May 2010. This authoritive document responds to the collective needs of the wider dementia community,
including people with dementia, their carers and family/whanau, dementia support workers and their respective
organisations, residential care providers and dementia specific health professionals. The National Dementia Strategy
clearly indicates the areas of priority that need to be addressed to better the quality of life for those who face the
daily challenge of living with dementia. Its development led to eight action points, some of which have already been
implemented, but all require investment in order to be realised.
Alzheimer’s New Zealand national director, Johan Vos, says “Today’s Budget announcement is a step in the right
direction. The dementia community has long recognised the need for greater cooperation between all dementia response
agencies in order to best prepare New Zealand for the expected ‘epidemic’ of dementia over the coming years. The
National Dementia Strategy demonstrated the consistent needs of the sector and identified a practical approach to
positive change.
“This commitment from Government adds to that collaboration and we welcome continued investment in order for us to
fulfil our promise to people living with dementia in our local communities. Now that we have a significant investment
from Government to address the pressing issues of quality care for advanced and acute dementia cases, as well as better
supports for carers through respite, we can focus on building better strategies and securing the funding needed to
support people living with dementia in the home.”
Alzheimers New Zealand evidenced the economic impact of early admissions to residential care in their thorough analysis
of the sector in its 2008 Economic Impact Report. It determined that $62.3m would be saved each year if transition to
residential care could be delayed by as little as three months.
“More beds obviously means an increase in capacity, meaning more dementia specialist staff will be needed across the
sector. Alzheimers New Zealand is working with our sector partners to ensure that care standards are consistent across
the country and meaningful, quality professional development for residential care staff will support this. Specific
funding for the residential sector should go a long way to support benchmarking and best practice so that people with
dementia are receiving the right care at the right time. “Quality care for people with dementia can be achieved through
collaborative processes and a continuum of care, focusing on the person rather than the dementia and responding
accordingly. This can only happen if support is accessed at an early stage, further emphasising the need for robust care
strategies in the community and a careful transition into residential care.” says Vos.
Dementia is a neurological disease that affects memory, cognition, emotion and reasoning. It is thought that over 43,000
New Zealanders currently have the condition however; these numbers are expected to exceed 76,000 by 2020 and will
further double every twenty years.
ENDS