1 February 2021

MEDIA RELEASE

National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) is calling for assistance from the Greek-Australian community to evaluate three new Greek-language short films about dementia.

The films, developed by NARI’s Moving Pictures project, are called Detection and Diagnosis, Navigating Care, and Carer Journey. They are available online for review before public release.

NARI’s Director of Social Gerontology, Associate Professor Bianca Brijnath said the films aim to increase dementia literacy among Greek-Australians and lead to improved care and support for loved ones.

“We hope the films will not only help raise awareness of dementia and dementia services, but also let people know it’s ok to ask for help,” said Associate Professor Brijnath.

The first generation of Greek Australians is ageing, and concurrently dementia rates are increasing. Currently there are 447,115 Australians living with dementia and this number is expected to surpass 1 million by 2058.

Research suggests that CALD communities including the Greek community may have limited awareness of dementia, which in turn can lead to delayed diagnosis, poorer prognosis, and a higher burden of care on families and health systems.

Associate Professor Brijnath says while many resources are available to the general community, few have been developed specifically with and for CALD communities.

The Moving Pictures project aims to address this gap.

“The Moving Pictures project raises dementia awareness through film and media in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities,” says Associate Professor Brijnath.

“Moving Pictures researchers worked closely with the Greek community to develop dementia resources based on the stories and experiences of carers of persons living with dementia, and also with help from organisations such as Pronia and Fronditha Care.”

Once evaluated, the dementia films will be freely available on the Moving Pictures website (https://movingpictures.org.au/).

Anyone interested in assisting with online evaluation of the Greek dementia films should contact Dr Josefine Antoniades at NARI on [email protected] or 0404 648 063.

Moving Pictures is a collaboration between the National Ageing Research Institute and Curtin University. It is supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Department of Health The Dementia and Aged Care Service (DACS) initiative.

Media enquiries:

Dr Josefine Antoniades: 0404 648 063  [email protected]
Rebecca Matthews: 0414 980 452 [email protected]

Find NARI on Twitter: @NAgeingRI
Find Moving Pictures on Twitter: @MovingPics_NARI