2. Dementia is one of the serious health care concerns considering the type of the
disease, its social and psychological impact and implications, and proliferation observed
over recent years, both in Australia and across the world. Nowadays, medical experts
agree that this disease, with the original meaning of its name translated from Latin as
“madness” (“mens” means “mind” and the prefix de- signifies the absence of the quality
defined by the root) cannot be related to a single specific condition. With typical
symptoms of a serious loss or decline of general cognitive ability, memory, perception
and other mental functions exceeding what might be qualified as the outcome of normal
aging dementia is regarded as an umbrella term that describes a syndrome associated
with a variety of conditions (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Dementia 2013).
Dementia may be caused by the brain injury or other diseases of the body; however, it
is most common with geriatric population. Many diseases can cause dementia, the most
common of these is Alzheimer disease. Dementia has several forms, which include
Vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia (including Pick
disease), and mixed forms of dementia (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Dementia 2013). An early onset of dementia is associated with the age group of
patients under sixty-five years. Based on projections of population ageing in Australia,
the total number of patients to suffer from dementia was estimated to reach the level of
almost 400,000 by 2020 and around 900,000 by 2050 (Australian Institute of Health and
3. Welfare. Dementia 2013). Three out of every ten Australians aged 85 and over had
dementia in 2011. In August 2012, the Australian Health Ministers recognised dementia
as the ninth National Health Priority area (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Dementia 2013). These facts and estimations demonstrate that the nation and
government should address the complex and multifaceted issue of dementia without
any delay and with due focuses on its various consequences and implications.
To address serious health care issues effectively, it is not enough to analyse only
the clinical and biomedical aspects of the disease and psychological problems related to
it. In recent years, a special emphasis has been made…