ABSTRACT

Dementia is a progressive intellectual and functional impairment that affects memory and learning ability, activities of daily living, and quality of life. Dementia is a leading cause of mental and physical disability in the elderly and carries the highest disability weighting of all illnesses. In Australia, there were around 245,400 dementia patients in 2009, and this gure is estimated to reach 1.13 million by 2050 (Access Economics, 2009). The total cost of dementia to the Australian health system was estimated at $6.6 billion in 2002 representing 1% GDP and it may exceed 3% of GDP by 2050 (Access Economics, 2003).