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Alzheimer’s Australia Vic

  • Project: Mind Your Mind: a community dementia risk reduction program (now known as Your Brain Matters)
  • Amount: $285,000 (total)
  • Year(s) Funded: 2005 and 2006

Innovative program tackles older Australians' single greatest cause of disability

Dementia is the single greatest cause of disability in Australians aged 65 years or older. HMSTrust funded a far-reaching dementia risk reduction program that was subsequently adopted nationally.

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Simon Palomares (centre) joins Alzheimer's Australia Vic staff and students of El Patio Spanish Language School to launch BrainyApp español
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“The generous contributions received by HMSTrust have enabled us to greatly enhance our leadership in dementia support. This valuable partnership continues to make a difference to the lives of Victorians impacted by all forms of dementia.” Maree McCabe, CEO Alzheimer’s Australia Vic

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  • HMSTrust funding enabled Alzheimer’s Australia Vic to introduce evidence-based dementia risk reduction strategies to the Victorian community through a media campaign, promotional material in multiple languages and rural and regional roadshows and community forums across Victoria. Mind Your Mind also de-stigmatised the topic of dementia and helped focus awareness on healthy lifestyle factors to reduce risk.
  •  The positive response in Victoria to Mind Your Mind saw it adopted as a national program of Alzheimer’s Australia, with a widespread impact following its rollout to other states and territories.
  • The program led to the very successful Your Brain Matters project and BrainyApp, the acclaimed brain exercise app which can be downloaded from Google’s Play or the Apple store free of charge. Together the English and new Spanish language editions of BrainyApp have been downloaded more than 250,000 times.
  • Alzheimer’s Australia Vic was able to engage in discussions with key health agencies and governments about preventive health issues, and to link into a major federal government initiative, the Dementia Collaborative Research Centres program.

Website: www.fightdementia.org.au  www.yourbrainmatters.org.au