Scaling up Cognitive Stimulation Therapy across Australia to enable people living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias to live well at home

Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) is the most rigorously evidenced psychosocial intervention for improving cognition and quality of life in people with mild to moderate dementia, at a fraction of the cost of medications and without their side effects. Under my leadership, the foundations are now in place to make CST available across Australia. I co-founded CST Australia in 2023, and as a volunteer association, we have since trained over 500 new facilitators to deliver CST in aged and community care settings nationally. My leadership and advocacy were instrumental in Dementia Australia commencing its first CST pilot, a critical stepping stone to national delivery. To convert this momentum into sustainable investment, evidence is urgently needed to: 1) identify the barriers and enablers to implementation in Australian community settings;
2) build the economic case, including savings to the health and aged care systems; and 3) test whether a scalable workforce model, in which non-professionals facilitate CST groups, is feasible and effective. Philanthropic investment from the Terry and Maureen Hopkins Foundation is uniquely placed to fund this translation-ready, high-impact psychosocial research that federal, medical-focused grant schemes systematically overlook. Only 4.5 years since graduating with a PhD in Geriatrics and Gerontology, I have already emerged as a national leader in dementia research. This investment will ensure the moment for genuine momentum to be realised is not lost.