Understanding It
What Dementia Is
Dementia is not a single disease but a term for a group of conditions causing progressive decline in thinking, memory, language, and the ability to carry out everyday tasks. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause; others include vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia and frontotemporal dementia.
It affects far more than memory. Sequencing a task, recognising objects, judging risk, managing time, and finding words are all commonly affected, and these are often what makes daily life difficult before memory becomes the obvious problem.
Diagnosis is made by a GP, geriatrician or memory clinic. Allied health supports living well with the condition; it does not diagnose or treat the underlying disease.
How does it usually present?
- Difficulty with multi-step tasks such as cooking, managing bills or medication
- Repeating questions or conversations
- Losing track of time, dates or place
- Word-finding difficulty
- Withdrawing from activities that were previously enjoyed
- Changes in mood, motivation or behaviour
- Difficulty recognising hazards: hot water, the stove, unsafe surfaces
- Reduced ability to plan and initiate, which can look like apathy
- Changes to sleep and day–night patterns
When to Act
When to Seek Help
Speak to your GP if you or a family member notice persistent changes in memory, thinking or daily function. Early assessment matters, as some causes of cognitive change are treatable.Seek urgent medical care for sudden change. Dementia progresses gradually. A sudden deterioration over hours or days (new confusion, agitation, drowsiness or hallucinations) is not typical of dementia and may indicate delirium, which is a medical emergency commonly caused by infection, medication, dehydration or pain. It needs same-day medical assessment.
Also seek urgent care for:
- A fall with a head strike, particularly if on blood-thinning medication
- Coughing, choking or a wet voice when eating and drinking
- Signs of infection: fever, pain passing urine, breathlessness
- Rapid weight loss or refusal to eat and drink
How We Help
How Our Team Can Help
Our role is practical: making daily life safer and more manageable, and supporting the people providing care.
Occupational Therapy
Home safety assessment, environmental changes that reduce confusion and risk, simplified routines and task set-ups that support independence, equipment and home modifications, meaningful activity planning, and strategies for the specific situations a family is finding hardest.
Nursing
Medication management, which becomes a significant risk area as cognition changes; continence support; wound and skin care; and clinical monitoring where other health conditions are involved.
Dietetics
Where appetite, weight loss or mealtime difficulty is a concern.
Physiotherapy
Mobility, falls prevention and maintaining physical function, which is often overlooked in dementia care.
Just as importantly, we work with families and carers. Carer strain is one of the most common reasons a person can no longer remain at home, and much of it is preventable with practical training and the right supports in place early.
Starting Out
What to Expect at Your First Appointment
Assessment takes place at home, which is essential. How someone manages in their own environment is quite different from how they present in a clinic.
Your clinician will talk with the person and, with their agreement, with family or carers. They will look at how daily tasks are managed, walk through the home identifying risks, and ask what is causing the most difficulty right now.
You will receive practical, specific recommendations rather than general advice, and a written plan that the whole care team can use.
Ready to book?
Ready to get started?
Contact inOne Healthcare on 1300 765 456 or submit a referral online. Dementia support is provided by our Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Physiotherapy and Dietetics teams.
info@inonehealthcare.com.au
Flexible Options
Funding we accept.
Support at Home
Occupational therapy, nursing, physiotherapy and dietetics all sit in the clinical care category and are fully government funded regardless of income or assets.
AT-HM scheme
Separate upfront funding for equipment and home modifications, across three tiers up to $500, $2,000 and $15,000 in a 12-month period. Complex equipment and any home modification generally require occupational therapy assessment.
Home Care Package and CHSP
For eligible clients.
NDIS
For younger onset dementia where the person was under 65 at application.
Private
No referral required.
Free 20min Consultation
Unsure what support you need, or have funding enquiries? Book a free 20-minute telehealth consultation with our team.