(mKICA) performed similarly. Key potential associations of dementia were explored, including: age, early life factors (separation, formal/informal education; parenting; childhood trauma) and adult life systemic health (stroke, vascular risks, head injury, alcohol, smoking, etc) substantially higher in Aboriginal Australians compared to the general Australian population and most other nations or ethnic groups. Aboriginal health and lifespan will contrasted with non-Indigenous ageing in terms of known risk factors for cognitive function and decline. However, there is an immediate need for provision of dementia education and appropriate services, as well as a move towards promoting successful ageing, both systemic and neural, from young ages onwards in this "at risk" population. of Demography and Director of the National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis (NIDEA) at the University of Waikato [in New from the Australian National University and Bachelor and Master of Social Science degrees in demography and anthropology from the University of Waikato. the University of Tasmania, returning to New Zealand in 2010 to create the new institute which is now up and running. and opportunities of population ageing for all levels of government and industry, with workforce planning, education and health care provision, and changing supply and demand patterns. She is committed to helping people work with and plan for the changing demography, rather than believing that this now imminent `future' can be changed. As an ageing baby boomer herself she has a vested interest in getting it `right', and sees population ageing as one of humanity's greatest achievements replete with many prospects for a brighter future. number of Australians with Alzheimer's is projected to treble by mid-century. Of equal concern is that by mid-century there will be as many as 150,000 new cases each year, up from less than 50,000 today. This paper puts these trends in their broader context, illustrating how a broad range of other ageing- related conditions will experience similar increases, at the same time as the labour force available to respond will decline. The paper stresses the need for an A-B-C approach to population ageing and its training implications. Accept that population ageing is not only increasing demand for health and related services locally, nationally and globally, but it is also coming to a labour force near you; Buffer against the challenges by revisiting all current policies and the principles on which they are based; and seek out new ways to Cooperate, Collaborate, and Conserve. It will not, of course, be that simple, but current approaches appear to be merely twiddling around the edges--this paper provides an evidence base for concerted action. |