(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.