A new digital talking book that gives information on dementia in plain English aims to make important information easily accessible for people with dementia and carers.
Bolton Clarke’s Information on Dementia in English talking book, developed with Dementia Australia and released this week, is a multi-media tool that can be viewed or listened to on a computer, mobile phone or tablet.
It is the seventh in a series of publications that support health literacy across diverse client groups, and was co-designed with support from Alfred Health, Dementia Australia clients and carers, the Care Connect Aboriginal Social Support Group in Laverton, Victoria and the Balee Aboriginal Social Support Group in Hastings, Victoria.
Bolton Clarke’s previous digital talking books include Information on Dementia in Vietnamese, co-designed with Vietnamese groups in Melbourne including people from different regions in Vietnam, Information on Medicines in English and Information on Diabetes in Italian, Greek, Vietnamese and Macedonian.
Diversity Manager Jaklina Michael said the latest project involved about 12 months of consultation and design and was designed to be accessible for everyone, including people with low general literacy, disabilities such as vision impairment and people who would receive the information through an interpreter.
“The resource is designed for people who have concerns about memory issues or have recently had a dementia diagnosis and their families and carers,” she said.
It includes topics like diagnosis, dementia and communication, dementia and behavior, self-care information for people with dementia, safety, how to support people with dementia with daily tasks, driving and travel and planning for the future.
“Dementia is a national health priority for the Australian Government and has profound consequences for the health and quality of life of people with the condition, their family and friends,” Ms Michael said.
“Bolton Clarke is committed to assisting people to learn about and better manage their health.
“Information on Dementia in English presents information on how to look after yourself in a way that is easy to understand.”
The resource is available at https://www.boltonclarke.com.au/talking-books/information-on-dementia/english/
