School of Arts and Humanities

BEFRIENDING with GENIE

An intervention to reduce loneliness, and increase social support and service access for people living with dementia and caregivers from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities

Strong social networks and connections are essential to support older people to maintain their health and quality of life as they age, live independently for longer and access services when they need to. However, people with dementia and their caregivers from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities have unequal knowledge about, access to, and uptake of prevention activities that support their social connections. As a result, they are at increased risk of significant social isolation and increased risk of morbidity and mortality.

Funded by the Medical Research Future Fund – Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Mission and led by Professor Loretta Baldassar, the BEFRIENDING with GENIE project addresses inequalities in the knowledge about and uptake of prevention activities, and access to services to support improved outcomes for older people in the community who are living with dementia and their caregivers from four language groups: Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese and South Asian. This project combines two evidence-based interventions: ‘BEFRIENDING’ which consists of informal conversations with a trained facilitator, and ‘GENIE’, which is an online database of support services and activities tailored to participants’ interests and needs and a network mapping tool to measures their social supports over time. The BEFRIENDING with GENIE intervention will be delivered to 100 participants and caregivers. We hypothesise that this project will improve the lives of the participants through a decrease in loneliness and increase in social connections of participants, as well as increasing their knowledge about, and access to, available services.

Researchers

Lead Investigator

• Professor Loretta Baldassar - Edith Cowan University, Australia

Chief Investigators

• Professor Colleen Doyle - National Ageing Research Institute, Australia
• Dr Sanetta du Toit - University of Sydney, Australia
• Associate Professor Anita Goh - National Ageing Research Institute, Australia
• Dr Manonita Ghosh - Edith Cowan University, Australia
• Dr Catriona Stevens - Edith Cowan University, Australia
• Dr Simone Marino - Edith Cowan University, Australia
• Associate Professor Jade Cartwright - University of Tasmania, Australia
• Dr Jacques Raubenheimer - University of Sydney, Australia
• Associate Professor Ivo Vassilev - University of Southampton, UK
• Professor Sunil Bhar - Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
• Associate Professor Rosemary Saunders - Edith Cowan University, Australia
• Associate Professor Dannii Yeung - City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
• Ms Mary Gurgone - Association for Culturally Appropriate Services (AfCAS), Australia

Associate Investigators

• Professor Bianca Brijnath - National Ageing Research Institute, Australia
• Associate Professor Christopher Etherton-Beer - University of Western Australia, Australia
• Professor Jaya Dantas - Curtin University, Australia
• Associate Professor Eyal Gringart - Edith Cowan University, Australia
• Ms Danila Moreira - InCasa Aged Care and Community Services, Australia
• Professor Dina LoGiudice - University of Melbourne, Australia
• Dr Cristina Thompson - University of Wollongong, Australia
• Ms Jane Wittenoom - Chorus, Australia

Key Partner Organisations

• Association for Culturally Appropriate Services (AfCAS)
• Australian Red Cross NSW
• Bene Aged Care
• Chorus: Aged Care, Disability, Mental Health Services WA
• Chung Wah Community Care
• InCasa Aged Care and Community Services
• Ishar Multicultural Women's Health Centre
• Laguna Veneto Social and Bocce Sporting Club (inc)
• MYVISTA: Retirement Villages Perth-Aged Care-Home Care
• Perth Asian Community Centre

MRFF Befriending with GENIE preliminary project full team meeting in February 2023

• Left to right: Mr Andrew Li, Professor Colleen Doyle, Dr Anita Goh, Dr Catriona Stevens, Ms Jane Wittenoom, Associate Professor Rosemary Saunders, Dr Simone Marino, Professor Loretta Baldassar, Ms Bronte Jones, Dr Cheng Yen Loo (back row), Ms Hien Nguyen (back row), Dr Sanetta du Toit (back row), Dr Cheryl Lange (back row), Dr Manonita Ghosh, Mr Sandro Barzotto, Associate Professor Eyal Gringart, Ms Danila Moreira, Ms Mary Gurgone, Ms Cristina Thompson
• On the screen – top left to right: Dr Jacques Raubenheimer, Professor Christopher Etherton-Beer
• On the screen – bottom left to right: Ms Andrea Creado, Associate Professor Ivo Vassilev, Mr Nelgyn Tennyson
• Others joined online: Associate Professor Dannii Yeung, Ms Ruth Ryan, Ms Zoya Syed