Younger Onset Dementia Australasian Trust

The Younger Onset Dementia Australasian Trust (YODAT) is a registered charity recently established for people living with younger onset dementia and their support people, including professionals and family.

Younger Onset Dementia refers to people who experience symptoms of dementia at age 65 or younger. The person may now be over 65.

The outcomes that YODAT is seeking to deliver on are:

• That people with younger onset dementia retain a sense of belonging within their families and communities.

• That people with younger onset dementia retain appropriate levels of autonomy by having opportunities for choice and control allowing them to express and develop their own individuality.

• That people with younger onset dementia receive age appropriate therapies that encourage physical fitness, emotional expression and assist to retain self-esteem by enabling them to continue with tasks which are meaningful to them.

• That people living with younger onset dementia, their families and support people have access to advice and advocacy that will help them to deal with challenges that may arise.

Research shows that physical activity and Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (a social group intervention) improve the quality of life for people living with dementia. As one of our first initiatives we are proposing to design, implement, and evolve a Wellington-based YODAT Day Service, featuring these and other enjoyable activities which will contribute to achieving the outcomes listed above.

We are seeking funding from multiple sources to enable the establishment of this service. Once it is fully operational YODAT will assess ways in which to make the same or similar services available in other regions of New Zealand.