A new tool supporting aged-care facility patients to express their sexuality will be launched at this weekend's National Dementia Research Forum, held at QUT's Garden's Point campus.
Director of QUT's Dementia CRC Professor Elizabeth Beattie said the Sexuality Assessment Tool (SexAT) for residential aged care facilities is a questionnaire that helps nursing staff to recognise that Intimacy and the expression of sexuality are fundamental aspects of a person's wellbeing that continue to be important as we age.
"We hope the launch today of this important resource will help residential aged care management, staff, residents (more than 170,000 across the country) and their families think about, and hopefully talk more frankly about, the 'elephant on the table' issue of sexuality and sexual expression," she said.
"This issue is particularly salient for residents with dementia, who have compromised ability to express choices and fully understand their actions and consequences."
FAST FACTS:
- Dementia is the third leading cause of death in Australia (surpassed only by heart disease and cancer) and there is no cure.
- 25 Australians died every day from dementia in 2010
- More than 320,000 Australians currently live with dementia
- 1.2 million Australians are caring for a person living with dementia
- There are approximately 24,400 people in Australia with Younger Onset Dementia (a diagnosis of dementia under the age of 65; including people as young as 30)
- Dementia will become the third greatest source of health and residential aged care spending within two decades, these costs alone will be around one per cent of GDP.
Media contact: Alita Pashley, QUT media officer, 07 3138 1841 or alita.pashley@qut.edu.au
