As dementia continues to affect an increasing number of Greek Australians, understanding the condition and its impact is important for those affected, including family members.
A forum by Fronditha Care in Melbourne this Sunday will provide crucial information for Greek Australians on dementia, its impact, and the range of supports available for families and carers. The forum, titled An Open Discussion on Dementia – The Personal, Social and Legal Impact of Dementia and What You Need to Know, will bring together medical, legal, and aged-care professionals to share practical insights on how families can navigate this difficult journey.
A panel of significant expertise includes, Dr Athanasios Kokkinias – Psychiatrist, Secretary of the Hellenic Medical Society of Australia; Georgia Tzebetzi – Quality and Clinical Manager, Fronditha Care; Chris Dolkas – Director, RND Lawyers Pty Ltd; Mandy Ha – Learning Designer, Dementia Australia
Together, they will explore the condition from multiple perspectives—medical, emotional, social, and legal—providing a holistic understanding of what dementia means for individuals and their loved ones.
Neos Kosmos spoke with Dr Arthur Kokkinias, a psychiatrist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and with his own practice, specialising in anxiety disorders, OCD, older persons’ psychiatry, psychosis, schizophrenia, and psychotherapy.
Dr Kokkinias told Neos Kosmos that the Fronditha forum will benefit a “mix of people,” including “people who are feeling like they might be beginning to suffer from dementia and may want to obtain more information for themselves,” and “family members and carers, so spouses and children in particular.”
The discussion will emphasise the importance of children of post-war Greek immigrants attending.
“It is important that the generation that’s below the generation that are suffering dementia are encouraged to come along, because they need to have as much information as possible if they think that their parents are on this journey of deteriorating cognition,” Dr Kokkinias said.
Dementia is particularly common in Melbourne’s Greek-speaking community, he added, due to demographic factors.
“For our Greek-speaking community in Melbourne in particular, it’s an incredibly common condition because of the age demographics, so it’s something that everyone really needs to be aware of,” he said.
The forum will cover the complexity of the condition. “People are going to be very, very different in terms of how they approach any of this, and a lot of it depends on the personality of the person before they become unwell… but also it depends on what the dementing illness might be doing to the person,” Dr Kokkinias said.
“Dementia may be making them paranoid, or it might be making them very suspicious of their family members or of other people.
“The condition itself can lead to a lot of complexity in terms of being able to seek help and being able to accept help.”
Key topics in his presentation include the diagnosis of dementia, the differences between various dementing illnesses, their consequences, and the treatments available. “I’m going to talk mainly about the diagnosis of dementia, the nature of the different dementing illnesses, then I will discuss the consequences and the way they present, the complications of having dementia, but also about the treatments that are available.”
The broader impact of dementia often goes unnoticed, Dr Kokkinias said, and unless people have been involved with someone who has dementia, they can overlook and underestimate the toll that it takes on carers.
Another common misconception surrounds the presentation of dementia, Dr Kokkinias said. “When people think of dementia, they think primarily of Alzheimer’s dementia, so they think of memory difficulties, but dementias can present in very different ways depending on the type of dementia. Sometimes dementia presents with personality or cognitive changes, or purely psychiatric symptoms like hallucinations or delusions.”
Accepting support can also be a challenge for many patients and families.
“Sometimes it might not even be the patient themselves; it might be the carer who doesn’t want outside support.
“It’s about convincing either one of them that help is there and life can be a bit easier as well,” he explained.
The forum promises to be an essential source of information and support for anyone affected by dementia—directly or indirectly—within Melbourne’s Greek community.
This is a chance for the Greek Australian community to engage directly with experts, ask questions, and share experiences.
For families facing the reality of dementia, the event promises clarity, guidance, and reassurance.
Date: Sunday, 14 September 2025
Time: 11.30am – 1.30pm
