The peak body for Alzheimer's in the ACT has criticised Canberra hospitals for failing to provide designated dementia specialists, despite the number of diagnosed cases climbing closer to 5000.
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Alzheimer's Australia ACT chief executive Jane Allen described the condition as a developing "tsunami" and called for across the board training at the Canberra and Calvary hospitals, with nurses and doctors often having little knowledge of the condition.
"This is the disease of the 21st century and the government is starting to realise this, but people with dementia right now want better services and for carers to have a better understanding of their needs with less stigma attached," she said.
Ms Allen's calls come just days after a report from the University of Canberra found hospital patients with dementia were more than twice as likely to experience complications such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections, pressure areas, and delirium.
The report found patients with dementia cost on average $2710 more per hospital episode than those without dementia, and that the government had a duty of care to investigate the cause.
Ms Allen, whose organisation works with health professionals in hospitals along with residential and community aged care, said more needed to be done inside Canberra hospitals to prepare for coming decades.
"There are no staff specifically trained for people who have dementia and that a singular thing that most health systems in Australia could do – to establish a designated role," she said.
"I would say that beyond that, we need to have more training for across the board and for that training to be included in the induction process."
Close to 340,000 Australians live with dementia with Alzheimer's disease accounting for between 50 and 70 per cent of cases.
In 2010, dementia was the third leading cause of death in Australia with prevalence of the condition likely to reach 900,000 by 2050.
Ms Allen said it was not unreasonable to expect a designated dementia specialist in each ACT hospital
"It's very doable in Canberra but with shrinking budgets the first thing that gets cut is often training so it's a complex question," she said.
"If there is a specialist in the hospital it could further reduce those bed stays days and be a conduit for the aged care and community care sector."
Ms Allen said hospitals were a "very, very dangerous place" for those with dementia and her organisation was working with health professions to increase awareness.
"With staff churns and people on different shifts they don't get much training and many mainstreams have not had much education about dementia at all," she said.
"When people present to the emergency department the staff are there to treat their injury but they are often not aware of the dementia and then their behaviours can escalate."
An Alzheimer's Australia report released last year found patients with dementia had a five-fold increase in mortality rates because they were more likely to experience falls, sepsis, or pressure ulcers while in hospital.
"Hospitals are not always the best place for people with dementia to receive care," the report said.
"In some situations, it is best for people with dementia to receive care within the home or within specialised residential aged care facilities."
Ms Allen said dementia was "no longer an older person's disease" and she was seeing some people as young as 40-year-old diagnosed with the condition.
"We are seeing more people diagnosed earlier in life but we don't really know why that it," she said.
"It may be because people in Canberra and generally well educated and may be seeking a diagnosis earlier in life."
ACT Health was contacted for this story.
