Alzheimers NZ welcomes membership of Ministerial Advisory Group

Alzheimers NZ welcomes the announcement of the membership of the Ministerial Advisory Group (MAG) on aged care.  We see this as an important and long-awaited step that signals real change for older New Zealanders.

We have written to the Associate Minister of Health Hon. Casey Costello to let her know we are keen to contribute constructively to the MAG’s work. However, we are surprised that the Group’s membership is not more inclusive of the dementia sector. From our perspective, it is essential that the MAG has a clear and shared understanding of the scale, urgency, and trajectory of dementia in New Zealand. Dementia is one of the fastest-growing drivers of demand across both the health and aged care systems, with significant and increasing social and economic costs.

With that in mind, we would welcome the opportunity to brief the MAG on the Dementia Mate Wareware Action Plan, which sets out many of ‘the solutions’.

Central to this is the creation of a genuinely integrated continuum of care, with clearer and more navigable transitions between services, and a shift away from an over-reliance on hospital-based care.

Of course, achieving these outcomes requires sustainably resourced, nationally consistent community support services. We will strongly encourage the MAG to include community-based dementia support, prevention, timely diagnosis, and integrated care pathways in its deliberations.

We appreciate the Associate Minister’s ongoing engagement with Alzheimers NZ and the dementia sector, and we look forward to contributing to the MAG’s work in ways that support meaningful, long-term improvements for older New Zealanders – particularly the rapidly growing, but often overlooked, community of New Zealanders living with dementia and their whānau.