Part 1:
A/Prof Nadeeka Dissanayaka’s presentation will focus on a range of technology assisted interventions developed and trialled to reduce behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia. Examples of technological innovations include virtual reality, telehealth, and smart assistance technologies to augment outcomes from therapies and home-base care. To date, trials have been conducted in hospital, community and aged care settings with exceptional outreach for people living with dementia and involving their care partners. In her presentation, A/Prof Dissanayaka will provide an overview of a recently funded MRFF grant, seeking to promote psychological care for people living with dementia remotely using a novel co-designed technology platform. A randomised controlled clinical trial, process evaluation and economic evaluation will be undertaken to test the efficacy and future implementation of the platform for enhanced remote delivery of psychotherapy for people living with dementia and their care partners.

Part 2:
Despite the effectiveness of psychological strategies for reducing mood symptoms in people with dementia, research is lacking on whether such strategies are effective for aged care residents with depression or anxiety. Prof Sunil Bhar’s presentation will focus on a recent cluster randomised controlled trial involving 21 residential aged care facilities and 123 residents with dementia. Residents were treated with 20 individual sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Staff and families were provided support and education. Prof Bhar will share results demonstrating that compared to usual care, anxiety reduced to a greater extent in the treatment condition, suggesting that CBT strategies are effective for reducing anxiety in residents with dementia.

Websites/resources provided in this Webinar:
https://www.australiandementianetwork... - The Australian Dementia Network Website
https://www.bit.ly/adnetguidelines - The Australian Dementia Network’s National Memory and Cognition Clinic Guidelines
https://www.australiandementianetwork... - Find a Memory Clinic or Cognitive Decline Assessment Service

Webinar chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:03 A/Prof Nadeeka Dissanayaka’s Presentation
21:59 Prof Sunil Bhar’s Presentation
42:12 Q&A