Drawing out care: using animation and digital technologies

Funded by the Medical Research Future Fund, the Drawing Out Care Study addresses a key priority for the Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Mission: to support family carers to deliver and sustain high-quality, culturally appropriate care at home to improve the quality of life of people with dementia and their carers.

The study

With approximately 30% of older Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, increasingly from Asia, meeting the needs of non-English speaking Australians with dementia is essential. This three-year study improved the lives of CALD family carers and people living with dementia using animations and digital fact sheets, collectively titled the Draw-Care Intervention.

The animated films and digital fact sheets are based on the World Health Organization’s iSupport Lite programme. Using co-production methods, the intervention was culturally adapted by working with CALD family carers, clinicians, service providers, and people living with dementia, as well as partners Dementia Australia and the Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia.

The trial

The clinical and cost effectiveness was evaluated in a trial with 116 carers speaking Italian, Greek, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, Tamil, Arabic, Vietnamese, and Spanish — reflecting Australia’s top 10 established and emerging older CALD communities.

Key outcomes

• ✓ Reductions in care burden
• ✓ Improvements in the family carer’s mood and quality of life
• ✓ Improvements in the quality of life for the person with dementia

The resources