Australian workplaces are not equipped to deal with the growing numbers of employees with Alzheimers despite an ageing population and a possible “tsunami” of future cases, advocates have warned.
One person is diagnosed with the disease every six minutes, and it is the third highest cause of mortality in Australia, and the second highest for women.
Yet despite a delayed retirement age of 70 by the year 2035, there is no national blueprint to cope with the increasing concern.
Alzheimer’s Australia CEO Carol Bennett warned the figures were a cause for alarm and said she was keen to work with the Federal Government and workplaces to address the issue.
“If we ignore this issue, it’s at our peril,” Ms Bennett said.
“We’ve seen the numbers that have increased, and you know, we’re going to see an increasing prevalence of the condition, we can’t afford to ignore it.
“What we’ve seen is that there has been an increase in the number of younger people getting younger-onset dementia, and we know that about 25,000 young people currently have it in Australia.
“As the prevalence of dementia progresses, we will certainly need to be adjusting and making sure that we’ve got policies in workplaces as that prevalence increases.”
Clinical neuropsychologist Dr Nicola Gates said she was concerned that while much has been done overseas in countries like the UK and Canada to prepare for the advance, the conversation between key players nationally had not even started yet here in Australia.
“You would be looking at 5 to 15 per cent of the workforce over 65 having a cognitive impairment,” Dr Gates said.
“I don’t think the Australia workplace is currently set. They haven’t established policies and procedures, HR departments don’t know what to do yet, and the policy changes within government to extend or delay the age of retirement haven’t been matched by polices and looking at employment with people with cognitive problems.”
Dr Gates anticipates a “tsunami” of cases to deal with in the coming years.
Of particular concern was the potential for a rise in discrimination and litigation cases, affecting employers, the employees with dementia, co-workers and consumers, she said.
“It can affect anybody. So I’ve seen a veterinary surgeon for example, who obviously couldn’t perform surgery. I’ve seen a barrister who was no longer able to give legal advice,” she said.
“I think the potential for litigation is very real. If people whose careers have been acted on by bad decisions, bad thinking.
“Similarly within businesses themselves, they may be sued as an organisation because of bad decisions in the upper hierarchy of the organisation.”
Government a ‘participant in a conversation’
Keith Glance held down a supervisory role in telecoms for more than 20 years, but had to retire aged 53, when he was diagnosed with dementia.
“I had lost my way, where two hours ago I was full of gusto and I thought I had a pretty good day, but all of a sudden I couldn’t find my car,” Mr Glance said.
In Australia, little research has been done about the likely consequences of the rise of dementia in the workplace, and what it will mean for employees, employers, their customers, and the carers.
Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley said this was not Government in charge, but Government as a participant in a conversation where everybody played a part.
“We are certainly aware of the increasing incidence,” she said.
“In the same way we’ve tackled mental health in the workplace, I believe we will similarly tackle dementia in the workplace.
“Certainly when you consider the aging population, the increasing costs for health over future generations as indicated by the intergenerational report, and also the changed service profile that older people need in their communities, it is of course something that governments remain very committed to and very focused on.”
Employer groups have admitted it is likely to become a major issue for them, but that there is no-one-size-fits-all solution.
Garry Brack from the Australian Federation of Employers and Industries said it could only be dealt with on a case by case basis.
“There won’t be any clear policy to say you keep them in the workplace longer, and you give them less significant jobs because there may be none,” he said.
Mr Brack said the risk of potential litigation caused by poor decisions of those with dementia could be set to rise, along with the risk of discrimination from employers, trying to grapple with the situation.
“Yes, employers are at risk and they worry about those things,” he said.
“Should they change the job, modify it, simplify etc, in some cases it will be possible. Should it be an obligation, a legal obligation, a legal responsibility? It should not.”
Statistics a wake-up call
Dementia affects 340,000 Australians, with 250,000 of them under the age of 65. The numbers are set to increase by a third in less than 10 years.
One person every six minutes is diagnosed with the disease, 1800 new cases of dementia every week.
Helen James’s husband Gordon was a trained broker from Lloyds of London.
The couple later worked together in a home office business, until things started to go wrong.
He now has end-stage fronto-temporal dementia.
“There were certain obligations that are required by law, and I think … some mistakes could have been made … fortunately they weren’t made, but they could have been,” Mrs James said.
Ms Bennett said the statistics were a wake-up call.
“It is absolutely essential that in the current aged care reform environment that the Federal Government gets this right,” she said.
The Federal Government has not ruled out a future National Disability Insurance Scheme to address the problem.
Support groups are keen to progress with the government and workplaces now, to start implementing measures to test case before the number of cases grow.