There are an estimated 413,000 people living with dementia in Australia and an estimated 1.2 million people involved in the care of someone with dementia.

The Sharing is Caring project is being run by the University of Tasmania School of Nursing, in partnership with the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, and with the support of Kiama Council and Clarence City Council in Hobart. The project is funded by a University of Tasmania Community Engagement Grant. 

Researchers believe recording the stories of those who live with and care for a family member living with dementia can help raise the profile of their role, and help the broader community understand the important contribution carers make.

Carers would meet with a researcher over two to three months to share and record their experiences. The researcher will work with the carer to turn those experiences into a print and digital story. These stories will then be shared with other carers in the project and the wider community.

The aim is to develop supportive networks to help reduce the social isolation family carers often experience and help them find meaning and feel positive about the work they do for their loved ones.

Council is encouraging local carers to participate the Sharing is Caring project, to help make the Kiama municipality a dementia-friendly community. A dementia friendly community is a place where people with dementia are supported to live a high quality of life with meaning, purpose and value.

Sharing is Caring builds on the progress of being made by the internationally-recognised Dementia Friendly Kiama Project.

The Dementia Friendly Kiama Project has already seen a strong uptake for dementia-awareness training sessions. Residents attending these sessions have learnt skills needed to engage and communicate effectively with people with dementia. They have also been trained up to make their local community groups more dementia friendly.

More recently the Dementia Alliance Group has hosted the first-ever dementia workshops created by people living with dementia for people living with dementia, and their carers.

These initiatives are helping Kiama become a dementia-friendly community by expanding the discussion of dementia, to destigmatise the disease and build awareness, and ensuring people with dementia, their families and carers are part of such discussions.