World Alzheimer’s Day falls on 21 September and the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) is making sure everyone gets a chance at understanding the illness.

The Moving Pictures project pioneered by NARI launched 12 short films in Italian, Greek, Vietnamese, and Spanish aimed at raising awareness about dementia among culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

“Moving Pictures is an innovative multi-media project which is helping to make Australian dementia and aged care services much more inclusive for non-English speaking communities,” Director of Social Gerontology at the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI), and head of the Moving Pictures project, Professor Bianca Brijnath said.

Moving Pictures aims to inform and educate CALD communities about dementia, and the importance of early diagnosis to enable better treatment and quality of life. The films also provide practical tips, as well as information about services that are available to families caring for someone living with dementia.

“There are currently almost 480,000 people living with all forms of dementia in Australia, and this is projected to increase to over 1 million people by 2058 without a major medical breakthrough,” Professor Brijnath said.

“With nearly 30 per cent of Australians aged over 65 born overseas, mainly in non-English speaking countries, there are growing concerns that the prevalence of dementia in some CALD communities could increase by more than 650 per cent in the years to come.

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Through Moving Pictures, we are sharing the stories and experiences of people living with dementia and their carers in a range of languages, to raise awareness and provide support and information.”

Moving Pictures has been funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health since 2017. The first series was launched in 2019, featuring 15 short films in languages other than English.

“We know families and carers have found these in-language resources very useful, and we are continuing to look for opportunities to produce more films in more languages, to better support Australia’s CALD communities,” Professor Brijnath said.

The films feature interviews with family carers, which is particularly important given research shows carers from a CALD background are twice as likely to experience psychological distress compared to those born in Australia.

“We know that, particularly in CALD communities, families are less likely to move their loved one into aged care, and prefer to provide the majority of dementia care at home. That’s why it’s so important families in CALD communities have access to resources to help them provide dementia care at home, and to know where to turn if they need support.”

While there is no cure for dementia, receiving a timely diagnosis and early intervention is important for the best outcomes and quality of life for the person living with dementia and their families.

However, for many in the community, including the Greek, diagnosis is often delayed. While there are many reasons for this, misconceptions and low levels of awareness about dementia and dementia services, different understandings of ageing and cognitive decline and language problems are significant barriers to accessing timely services in the Greek community.

“Often in CALD families, early signs of dementia are conflated with normal ageing; later symptoms with madness. In some cultures, people believe dementia is caused by family conflict or neglect. These misconceptions can breed denial, fear, and misunderstanding, and can mean delays in diagnosis, referrals to specialist care, and appropriate medication use.”

“Moving Pictures supports family carers in CALD communities to deliver and sustain high-quality, culturally appropriate care at home, and to improve the quality of life of people living with dementia,” Professor Brijnath said.

Moving Pictures is a collaboration between the National Ageing Research Institute and Curtin University. The project is guided by dementia and multicultural peak bodies, community groups, relevant health, community and aged care services as well as consumers.

You can view all three videos filmed in Greek by visiting www.movingpictures.org.au/home