A joint collaboration between Dementia Australia NT, University of Western Australia and National Ageing Research Institute, written by Gail Marsh, Marilyn Inglis, Kate Smith and Dina LoGiudice.
There are many complex needs of older Indigenous people with dementia and other health related issues. The lack of a culturally appropriate assessment tool hindered the evaluation of cognitive impairment in the Indigenous community. The Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment tool (KICA) was developed and validated in a number of Indigenous communities in the Kimberley region of Western Australia (WA) by Dr Kate Smith and Professor Leon Flicker.
The research findings indicate KICA is a useful to assess dementia in older Indigenous Northern Territorians. The results are comparable with other cognitive screening tools used in non Indigenous cultures in the community.