Dementia disproportionately affects women whether living with dementia or supporting someone living with dementia in aged care, a fact largely ignored in the final report of the Aged Care Royal Commission, an analysis by QUT health law researchers has found. Dr. Kristina Chelberg, from QUT's Australian Center for Health Law Research, said the gendered experiences of women with dementia and the unpaid work of women care partners of people with dementia in aged care were overlooked in the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety's (ACRC) final report.
Dr. Chelberg and Dr. Linda Steele, from University of Technology Sydney, explored the representation of women, dementia and aged care in the ACRC that informed the "once-in-a-generation" reforms contained in the new Aged Care Act, in an article published in the Journal of Aging Studies .
Dr. Chelberg said the Act failed to address gendered issues of dementia aged care even though 63% of people with dementia are women and 75% of care partners of people with dementia are women. "Using the ACRC's final report as a case study , we found it reflected global patterns, where the standard or normative gendered structure of aged care shaped both women's experiences of dementia, and supporting/or advocating for someone with dementia," Dr.
Chelberg said. "In particular, the harms experienced by women with dementia in aged care were overlooked, while the feminized labor of women care partners was taken for granted. "The A.