Dementia among aged care residents:

The Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) is a new tool to appraise the care needs of permanent residents in residential aged care facilities. The ACFI appraisal was used to identify more than 104,400 permanent residents in 2008-09 who had a diagnosis of dementia. This equates to 53% of all residents with an ACFI appraisal in this financial year. Seventy per cent of residents with a dementia diagnosis were female reflecting their overall proportion in residential care. Approximately 79% of all residents with dementia were aged 70 years and over.

This new AIHW report, presenting data for 2008–09, is the first to examine the characteristics and care requirements of Australian aged care residents with a diagnosis of dementia. It will be useful for informing the allocation of future aged care funding and the development of aged care facilities to meet the needs of the ageing Australian population.