New guide helps more Australians benefit from proven dementia care

UNSW Sydney, NeuRA and HammondCare have launched a practical guide to help aged care providers introduce proven dementia care programs.

UNSW dementia researchers have found access to programs that help people living with dementia maintain independence and quality of life remains limited across Australia’s aged care sector, even though current research suggests these interventions are beneficial.

A new implementation guide developed by UNSW Sydney, Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and HammondCare aims to address this by helping organisations introduce these evidence-based programs into everyday care.

Reablement for people with cognitive changes or dementia living in the community: A practical implementation guide includes practical advice on training staff in dementia and reablement – an approach that helps people continue doing the everyday activities that matter to them. It identifies who will deliver different parts of the program, and planning how services can work together to provide ongoing support for people living with dementia.

The guide builds on international research showing that people living with dementia benefit from personalised support to help them maintain their skills, confidence and independence.

Lead researcher Dr Claire O’Connor from UNSW Sydney and NeuRA said the guide was designed to address one of the biggest challenges facing the aged care sector: translating dementia research into everyday practice.

“Developing effective interventions is only half the challenge. Ensuring they reach the people who could benefit is equally important,” Dr O’Connor said.

“Many aged care providers have reported uncertainty about how to implement these approaches within existing health and community aged care systems.

“I hope the new implementation guide will help bridge the gap between research and everyday dementia care in Australia.”

The guide builds on a longstanding collaboration between UNSW Sydney and HammondCare. It combines UNSW’s dementia research with HammondCare’s experience delivering aged care services, to translate evidence into practical tools.

Professor Chris Poulos, Director of the Positive Ageing Research Program at HammondCare, added, “We know that reablement can help people living with dementia maintain independence, confidence and quality of life. By sharing research, resources and implementation knowledge openly, we can help build capability across the sector and accelerate the adoption of approaches that are known to make a difference.”

What support looks like in practice

The implementation guide complements HammondCare’s existing Reablement Handbook , which contains the programs that aged care providers can deliver to support people living with dementia.

For example, a person who enjoys gardening might work with an occupational therapist to adapt tools or make simple changes around the yard so they can continue gardening safely and independently.

Someone who wants to keep preparing meals may receive support to practise everyday tasks, modify their kitchen environment or develop strategies that make cooking easier.

The reablement programs also encourage personalised exercise plans to maintain strength, balance and mobility, helping people stay active in their communities and reducing the risk of falls. Family members and carers are encouraged to take part where appropriate, providing support that helps people remain engaged over time.

Other approaches include helping families improve communication, adapting home environments to support everyday activities, setting goals that reflect what is important to each individual, and regularly reviewing those goals as a person’s needs and abilities change.

“Reablement encourages providers to look beyond a person’s diagnosis and focus on their strengths, supporting them to continue doing the activities that are meaningful to them for as long as possible,” Dr O’Connor said.

Resources to support better dementia care

UNSW and NeuRA researchers worked with aged care providers and other stakeholders to develop the implementation guide and to better understand why reablement programs are not widely available.

“Our research shows that there are many reasons why dementia reablement isn’t widely available in Australia. These range from challenges faced by people living with dementia and families, through to service providers, and the broader aged care system,” Dr O’Connor said.

“For aged care providers, barriers include limited capacity to deliver reablement programs, a lack of knowledge and training, and missed opportunities to offer these programs to people with cognitive decline or dementia when they first access services.”

The new guide helps organisations assess their readiness to introduce reablement programs.

Providers are encouraged to evaluate whether staff have the right skills and confidence, whether multidisciplinary teams are working together effectively, and whether the organisation has the systems and support in place to make the programs part of everyday care. The guide includes examples of strategies and tools that providers could use to support these processes.

The implementation guide forms part of a broader suite of resources available on HammondCare’s Reablement Hub . These include an intervention handbook, an assessment guide for goal setting and measuring program outcomes, a consumer booklet for people living with dementia and their families, and a technical guide detailing the evidence underpinning the programs.

Together, these resources provide practical support for clinicians, service providers, people living with dementia and family carers.

Developing effective interventions is only half the challenge. Ensuring they reach the people who could benefit is equally important.

Supporting strengths, not decline

Reablement represents a shift away from traditional models of care that focus primarily on decline and support needs. Instead, it emphasises a person’s strengths, goals and capacity to continue participating in meaningful daily activities.

These resources align with recommendations from the World Health Organization, Australia’s Clinical Practice Guidelines for Dementia, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, and the Australian National Dementia Action Plan, all of which recognise the importance of rehabilitation and reablement for people living with dementia.

“Ultimately, our aim is to ensure that more people living with dementia are supported to maximise their independence and continue doing personally meaningful activities, by aged care services that have the knowledge, confidence and systems to make that possible,” Dr O’Connor said.