Dementia Support Australia (DSA) is a national service, supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Dementia and Aged Care Services Fund, which administers Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Service (DBMAS) and Severe Behaviour Response Teams (SBRT)
Dementia Support Australia (DSA) aims to:
- Improve the quality of life and care for people with dementia and their carers;
- Up-skill, assist and support aged care providers in improving care for people with dementia and related behaviours; and
- Ensure care services for people with dementia are responsive to their individual and diverse needs and circumstances.
The Dementia Support Australia team are ready to help you.
Call 1800 699 799 to speak to a DSA team member.
Our Approach
We treat clients as individuals and with the utmost respect and dignity.
We are responsive and available and take a person-centered holistic approach to our clients. We seek to work collaboratively with the person with dementia’s primary carer and other medical specialists but also with a philosophy that uses non-pharmacological approaches.
The DSA team is committed to supporting people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people and those living in rural and remote areas, veterans, those at risk of homelessness and care leavers.
What do we Provide?
Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Service (DBMAS)
DBMAS supports staff and carers in community, residential, acute and primary care settings with information, advice, assessment and short term case management interventions. This includes assessment, clinical support, care planning, mentoring, link to current research and a 24 hour help line.
Severe Behaviour Response Teams (SBRT)
The SBRT are a mobile workforce available to provide timely expertise and advice to Commonwealth funded approved Residential Aged Care Facilities, Multi-Purpose Services, or Flexibly Funded Services requiring assistance. They include nurse practitioners, nurses, allied health and specialist staff and address the needs of people with severe and very severe Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD).
Services
Meet the Team
Dementia Support Australia engages a range of highly skilled, multi-disciplinary teams including but not limited to the following: registered nurses, registered mental health nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social workers, medical specialists, psychogeriatricians and geriatricians, neuropsychologists, clinical psychologists, speech pathologists, dieticians and nurse practitioners. This broad range of expert input is available to all referrals ensuring comprehensive and holistic support.
Led by Associate Professor Colm Cunningham, the Director of the Dementia Centre and supported by a national leadership team the service has consultants in every state and territory and regional locations. Regardless of where your referral comes from DSA provides an on the ground response with support from local teams.
Meet the Team
The Dementia Centre
The Dementia Centre was founded by HammondCare in 1995 as an impartial resource and provider of research and expertise to the aged and dementia care community, in Australia and nationally. We offer expert advice to people at all levels of the organisation from CEOs and medical professionals, through to clinicians, support staff and family carers in the home.
Our journey has been one of partnerships with leading research and industry organisations, health care providers and carers, education institutions and communities. Central to the work of the Dementia Centre is our dedication to defining and informing the provision of care and an enhanced quality of life for people of all ages living with dementia and their families.
Dementia Centre
Locations.
Dementia Support Australia is a nationally consistent service, while providing a visible local presence. Assistance is provided to the care recipient where they are. This could be at home, in a residential aged care facility or in an acute or primary care facility. The team are available 24/7 (seven) days a week (including public holidays).