Measure 2.3: Increased willingness of people to seek help if they thought they had symptoms of dementia and share their dementia diagnosis
It is important to seek help when dementia symptoms are noticed. A timely diagnosis allows the person with dementia and their family to adjust, plan ahead, and make lifestyle changes that can slow the progression of dementia and improve their quality of life.
Stigma can influence how individuals accept their dementia diagnosis and whether they share it with others. Sharing a dementia diagnosis is an important step toward integrating dementia into the lives of those affected. Sharing the diagnosis may also help people living with dementia feel more confident in asking for support, and others may be more forthcoming in offering support. It is therefore important to measure the willingness of people to seek help and share their dementia diagnosis.
Data are available from the Dementia Awareness Survey to track this measure.
Help-seeking behaviour following dementia symptoms
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Indicator
Proportion of Australians willing to seek help if they thought they had symptoms of dementia.
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Baseline value
49% would seek help immediately in 2023
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Latest value
Baseline value only
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Progress
To be provided in future updates
The desired outcome is that more Australians would be willing to seek help if they thought they had symptoms of dementia, so this indicator should increase over time.
In 2023, 94% of Australians reported that they would seek help if they had symptoms of dementia. Of these, half (49%) reported that they would seek help immediately, 37% would wait a while and 14% would only seek help when symptoms become obvious to others (Figure 2.3.1).
Figure 2.3.1. Timeframe of help-seeking behaviour if a person had symptoms of dementia, 2023
Column chart shows the percentage of people who would seek help immediately, wait a while, or seek help only when symptoms become obvious.
Change over time
Future updates of this report will track changes over time for this indicator.
Openness to sharing a dementia diagnosis
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Indicator
Proportion of Australians who would be willing to share their dementia diagnosis if they developed dementia.
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Baseline value
96% of Australians in 2023
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Latest value
Baseline value only
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Progress
To be provided in future updates
The desired outcome is for dementia stigma to decrease among the Australian public and for more Australians to feel they could share a dementia diagnosis. Given this indicator is already very high, the desired outcome is for it to stay stable or increase over time.
In 2023, 94% of Australians reported that if they were diagnosed with dementia, they would share their diagnosis with family members (Figure 2.3.2). Two in 3 (66%) Australians would share their diagnosis with friends. One in 4 (27%) would share their diagnosis with their employer and colleagues and less than 4% would tell nobody.
Figure 2.3.2. Who people would share a dementia diagnosis with, 2023
Bar chart shows the percentage of people who would share a dementia diagnosis with work colleagues, family members, friends, neighbours or nobody.
Change over time
Future updates of this report will track changes over time for this indicator.
In 2023, the proportion of people who would share their diagnosis with family members was similar across most population groups. However, population groups who were statistically significantly less likely to share a dementia diagnosis with family members included:
- men (compared with women)
- people who finished school before Year 12 (compared with higher levels of education)
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people (compared with non-Indigenous Australians)
- people with an annual household income of less than $20,799 (compared with an income of $104,000 or more)
- people who did not have a friend or family member living with dementia (compared with those who did) (Figure 2.3.3).
Figure 2.3.3. Percentage of people who would share a dementia diagnosis with family members, by population group, 2023
These data come from the Dementia Awareness Survey (DAS).
The DAS was first run in 2023, surveying more than 5,400 Australian adults to understand general knowledge of dementia and dementia risk factors, and community attitudes towards dementia and people living with dementia in Australia.
Data are reported by population groups where data quality allows.
Comprehensive technical notes detailing survey methodology, questionnaire design, sampling, weighting and significance testing are available from the Dementia Awareness Survey technical notes.
For more detailed data, including the counts used to calculate proportions, see the Supplementary data tables.