Why are people from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background more susceptible to the early onset of diseases associated with ageing? Do people with Alzheimer's disease feel pain in the same way and to the same extent as adults without dementia?
These questions and others are being posed by eight teams of researchers in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, who will receive total funding of $1.7 million under the NHMRC's Strategic Healthy Ageing Program.
Announcing the funding today, Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson, said three of the eight research projects would be undertaken by Victorian institutions.
"Dr Dina LoGiudice of the National Ageing Research Institute, will receive $200,000 over two years to investigate dementia in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Kimberley region of WA," Senator Patterson explained.
"Of all groups in Australia, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community is most affected by an early onset of the diseases and conditions most associated with ageing. This study will have very significant implications for the planning of effective and culturally appropriate services for older Indigenous people with dementia."
Associate Professor Stephen Gibson, National Ageing Research Institute, will receive $120,000 to examine pain sensitivity and an objective physiological measure of central nervous system pain processing in older adults with Alzheimer's Disease. Professor Hal Kendig, LaTrobe University will receive $211,465 over three years to add a Functional Ageing, Health and Services (FAHS) component to an existing longitudinal study.
"With an ageing population, healthy ageing is very properly a national research priority," the Minister said. "These projects will, by increasing our knowledge about the processes of ageing, allow us to improve health outcomes for, and the quality of life of, our ageing population, or will provide the information to assist in the prevention or mitigation of the diseases of ageing in the Australian community."