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Australian Indigenous HealthBulletin
 

The Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment tool (KICA)

 

Overview

The Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (KICA) project was initiated to meet the need for a validated cognitive screening tool for older Indigenous Australians living in rural and remote areas. This culturally sensitive assessment tool allows medical practitioners to determine the extent of dementia and other cognitive impairment in this group. The KICA tool is named after the region where the original research was conducted and is comprised of a number of sections which assess the person and carer. The KICA tool is now widely used in remote or rural locations in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. An evaluation of the tool highlighted the dependability of the instrument for measuring cognitive deficiencies in older traditionally living Indigenous Australians.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

Contacts

Kate Smith
University of Western Australia
Ph: (08) 9224 3661
Email: kate.smith@uwa.edu.au

Related publications

Alzheimer's Australia (2007)

Dementia: a major health problem for Indigenous people: briefing prepared for Parliamentary Friends of Dementia.

Canberra: Alzheimer's Australia

This briefing paper highlights that a start has been made in identifying the prevalence of dementia among Indigenous people. Recent research in the Kimberley region of Western Australia suggests that prevalence rates of dementia could be 4 -5 times higher among Indigenous people than those in the general Australian community. A National Indigenous Dementia Strategy has been developed to provide a framework for action, with a need for Alzheimer's Australia and Indigenous organisations to obtain the resources required to implement this strategy.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

LoGiudice D, Smith K, Thomas J, Lautenschlager NT, Almeida OP, Atkinson D, Flicker L (2006)

Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment tool (KICA): development of a cognitive assessment tool for older Indigenous Australians.

International Psychogeriatrics; 18(2): 269-280

Alzheimer's Australia (2006)

Beginning the conversation: addressing dementia in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: workshop report, 8-9 November 2006, Adelaide.

Hawker, ACT: Alzheimer's Australia

Alzheimer's Australia NT, University of Western Australia, National Ageing Research Institute (2006)

Validation of the Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment Tool (KICA) in rural and remote Indigenous communities of the Northern Territory.

Hawker, ACT: Alzheimer's Australia

Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (KICA) (2006)

Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing (WACHA)

The Kimberley Indigenous cognitive assessment (KICA) tool is a culturally sensitive assessment tool which allows for the cognitive screening of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in rural and remote areas of Australia. The resource package includes the complete tool or individual sections which include patient and carer assessment, family reports, pictures and an instruction booklet and video.

The KICA tool has been used to assess Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, aged 45 years and over, in rural and remote areas across Australia including north Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Cape York Queensland and the Torres Strait islands.

Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet abstract

Smith K, Flicker L, Lautenschlager NT, Almeida OP, Atkinson D, Dwyer A, LoGiudice D (2008)

High prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment in Indigenous Australians.

Neurology; 71(19): 1470-1473

Jackson Pulver L, Broe GA, Grayson D, Chalkley S, Flicker L, Daylight G, Mack H, Radford K (2012)

Dementia screening for urban Aboriginal Australians: the modified Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (mKICA).

Sydney: Dementia Collaborative Research Centres

Evaluated publications

Smith K, Flicker L, Dwyer A, Marsh G, Mahajani S, Almeida O, Lautenschlager N, Atkinson D, LoGiudice D (2009)

Assessing cognitive impairment in Indigenous Australians: re-evaluation of the Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Australian Psychologist; 44(1): 54-61

Alzheimer's Australia NT, University of Western Australia, National Ageing Research Institute (2006)

Validation of the Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment Tool (KICA) in rural and remote Indigenous communities of the Northern Territory.

Hawker, ACT: Alzheimer's Australia

Links

 
Last updated: 18 February 2013
 
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