Younger Onset Dementia

We specialise in providing services to people under 65 years of age who are living with Younger Onset Dementia. We believe that our skilled support and therapy can make a significant difference in how you, and those close to you, adapt to living well with dementia. Director of Supports & Therapies, David, has over 35 years experience of working with people living with dementia in a range of dementia specific roles: registered nurse, social worker, dementia care facility manager, dementia respite centre coordinator and dementia advisor. He has an established reputation in South East Queensland with a network of contacts to consult with and refer to.

Adapt Lifestyle Support recognises that, the type of dementia and sub type of dementia you are living with, will have a significant bearing on your particular support needs. By understanding your type of younger onset dementia, we can devise a support plan with you that maximises your personal strengths and maintains your abilities with the things that you can still do well. Assessing and understanding the symptoms you may experience means we can create a plan with you to minimise or adapt to them.

All of Adapt Lifestyle Support dementia supports and therapies are underpinned by the Clinical Dementia Guidelines for Practice 2016 and can be accessed via your NDIS Plan. These include: Support Coordination, Social Work Therapy, Cognitive Stimulation and Cognitive Training, Behaviour Support and Respite Accommodation.

There are approximately 28,000 Australians living with Younger Onset Dementia (2021). All of these people are under 65 years of age at the time of diagnosis, but they may have different types of dementia including:

Fronto Temporal Dementia
Alzheimer’s Disease
Vascular Dementia 

Dementia in progressive neurological diseases:
Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA), Parkinson’s Disease, Motor Neurone Disease, Huntington’s Disease

Alcohol Related Dementias
Lewis Body Dementia
Dementia in Downs Syndrome

Further information on these and other dementia related information can be found on the Dementia Australia website.

Looking Forward Together:

We offer a range of therapies delivered on a one to one basis either at our Lifestyle Lodge retreat or within your own home and community.

Our “Looking Forward” therapy program will be negotiated with you around your particular needs and goals. We can suggest options for:

  • Adapting to memory loss;
  • New community activities
  • Maintaining social connections
  • Reducing symptoms
  • Cognitive Stimulation;
  • Cognitive Brain Training
  • Changed behaviours;
  • Loss of interests
  • Changed relationships
  • Adapting your environment
  • Trialling assistive technology
  • Future Planning.

Our Looking Forward therapy program aims to build on your strengths in adapting to living with dementia, minimise the symptoms you experience and delay the rate of progression of your symptoms. What are you looking forward to?

Family Support:

A dementia diagnosis for people under the age of 65 brings specific challenges. The adjustment required to living with a diagnosis can affect many areas of a person’s life including employment, finances, hobbies and interests, friendships, future plans, personal and family relationships and often a change of role within these relationships. At Adapt Lifestyle Support, loss and grief associated with dementia are something we understand and can assist with through counselling, which focuses on your practical and psychological adaption. Counselling for family members and for the children of someone living with younger onset dementia can be incorporated into your plan.

We can also advocate for your NDIS plan review to ensure the correct type and amounts of supports are requested as they become necessary due to the progressive nature of your condition. Adapt Lifestyle Support are committed to bridging any knowledge gap between the NDIS, the disease and the individual so we are keen to hear your experience. Please let us know your experience even if your supports are now successfully in place.