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ECU Social Ageing (SAGE) Futures Lab

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BEFRIENDING with GENIE

An intervention to reduce loneliness, and increase social support and service access for people living with dementia and caregivers from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities

Strong social networks and connections are essential to support older people to maintain their health and quality of life as they age, live independently for longer and access services when they need to. However, people with dementia and their caregivers from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities have unequal knowledge about, access to, and uptake of prevention activities that support their social connections. As a result, they are at increased risk of significant social isolation and increased risk of morbidity and mortality.

Funded by the Medical Research Future Fund – Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Mission and led by Professor Loretta Baldassar, the BEFRIENDING with GENIE project addresses inequalities in the knowledge about and uptake of prevention activities, and access to services to support improved outcomes for older people in the community who are living with dementia and their caregivers from four language groups: Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese and South Asian. This project combines two evidence-based interventions: ‘BEFRIENDING’ which consists of informal conversations with a trained facilitator, and ‘GENIE’, which is an online database of support services and activities tailored to participants’ interests and needs and a network mapping tool to measures their social supports over time. The BEFRIENDING with GENIE intervention will be delivered to 100 participants and caregivers. We hypothesise that this project will improve the lives of the participants through a decrease in loneliness and increase in social connections of participants, as well as increasing their knowledge about, and access to, available services.

Researchers

Lead Investigator

Professor Loretta Baldassar - Edith Cowan University, Australia

Chief Investigators

Professor Colleen Doyle - National Ageing Research Institute, Australia
Dr Sanetta du Toit - University of Sydney, Australia
Associate Professor Anita Goh - National Ageing Research Institute, Australia
Dr Manonita Ghosh - Edith Cowan University, Australia
Dr Catriona Stevens - Edith Cowan University, Australia
Dr Simone Marino - Edith Cowan University, Australia
Associate Professor Jade Cartwright - University of Tasmania, Australia
Dr Jacques Raubenheimer - University of Sydney, Australia
Associate Professor Ivo Vassilev - University of Southampton, UK
Professor Sunil Bhar - Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Associate Professor Rosemary Saunders - Edith Cowan University, Australia
Associate Professor Dannii Yeung - City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Ms Mary Gurgone - Association for Culturally Appropriate Services (AfCAS), Australia

Associate Investigators

Professor Bianca Brijnath - National Ageing Research Institute, Australia
Associate Professor Christopher Etherton-Beer - University of Western Australia, Australia
Professor Jaya Dantas - Curtin University, Australia
Associate Professor Eyal Gringart - Edith Cowan University, Australia
Ms Danila Moreira - InCasa Aged Care and Community Services, Australia
Professor Dina LoGiudice - University of Melbourne, Australia
Dr Cristina Thompson - University of Wollongong, Australia
Ms Jane Wittenoom - Chorus, Australia

ECU Social Ageing (SAGE) Futures Lab

BEFRIENDING with GENIE

Researchers

Lead Investigator

Chief Investigators

Associate Investigators

Key Partner Organisations

Contacting ECU

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Contacting ECU

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ECU Social Ageing (SAGE) Futures Lab

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BEFRIENDING with GENIE

Researchers

Lead Investigator

Chief Investigators

Associate Investigators

Key Partner Organisations

Contacting ECU

Supplemental

Contacting ECU

Supplemental

Help us improve our content