Caregiving and dementia/Topics/Allied health

This NPA focuses on caring for people with dementia through the allied health disciplines.

What is Allied Health
The role of Allied Health (AH) professionals in the care and support of people with dementia and their families is a significant one. AH professionals constitute approximately 18% of the total health workforce; a similar proportion to medical practitioners. However definitions of Allied Health vary, as do groupings of the professions it comprises, and methods of classification Historically AH tended to be defined in terms of exclusion (i.e. any health profession not medical, nursing or dental) but as the range and number of health professions continues to grow AH is now more often described in terms of inclusion. Inclusion is based on a set of key attributes required to be considered an AH profession such as: an appropriate university degree qualification; registration, accreditation or professional association membership; and, a practitioner role that involves restoring and maintaining optimal function

Allied Health as a priority for DTSC
As a priority area for QLD DTSC a small number of AH professions were selected as a specific focus. They include Occupational Therapy, Diversional Therapy, Social Work and now Psychology. These professions though not all universally recognised or acknowledged as AH are some of those most likely to be involved in the care of people with dementia in acute care, community and residential care settings.

In 2012, the QLD DTSC conducted a national survey to identify the key dementia education and training needs of Diversional Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Social Workers. Results summaries for each profession are available on the new Allied Health resource page in the DTSC website. The survey results were also presented as a poster at the Dementia Collaborative Research Centres Forum in Brisbane in 2013.