One might not expect a professor specialising in dementia studies to be stopped in the streets, but Dr Fran McInerney has been. This is part indicator of her successes as an educator, and partly of the extent to which Australians are focused on the growing concerns raised by dementia diseases in our ageing population, with dementia now the second leading cause of death.

One might also be surprised to hear someone deeply involved in this field to describe their work in terms of exhilaration and joy, and to hear the passionate conviction with which they say this. Dr McInerney does. ‘It’s been a dream come true – the work of my life. It’s been the most meaningful thing I’ve ever done.’

Dementia affects all the world’s peoples. The terminal condition has a distressing course that is difficult for those with the condition, their families and carers. ‘This is going to touch everyone,’ says Dr McInerney. ‘It’s a thing we will all have to face.’ Her own father and aunt had dementia, and ‘after four years caring for them, I understood the lived experience of how hard it is to be a carer and to navigate the system. It was challenging for me despite my expertise.’

Dr McInerney considers her most important research to be educative. She’s been instrumental in creating three dementia-centred tools in collaboration with the Wicking Centre, to increase people’s knowledge about the condition. One is a discussion tool to help those in aged care facilities – staff and families – talk about dementia and death and dying. ‘We’ve used it a lot in palliative care organisations in training sessions to do with older people. And we use it in academic teaching.’

The second tool is a survey to measure dementia literacy. ‘This has been administered once and is being further analysed and refined. Along with the dementia knowledge survey we have developed, it will direct the Australian Health Department’s development of dementia-related services. So far 5,500 people have completed it.’

Dr McInerney has also contributed to MOOCs – massive open online courses – about dementia, which have received local, national and international recognition.

The Understanding Dementia MOOC has been rated one of the top ten of all MOOCs, and number one of all health MOOCs in the world. ‘I’m very proud of it and it’s close to my heart,’ says Dr McInerney, who has also coordinated this course. It spans seven weeks of information with videos, chat rooms, games, evidence links, and quizzes. ‘It’s had one of the highest completion rates in the English-speaking world – over 40 per cent compared to an average 5 to 10 per cent.’

Over one hundred thousand people have completed the dementia MOOCs to date. MOOCs can have great impact since they are free to anyone, anywhere with internet access. At the end of these structured courses, participants receive a certificate of completion.

‘We also have a Preventing Dementia MOOC, which is five weeks long,’ says Dr McInerney. This has enormous potential since overall risk for dementia can be reduced by a whopping 30 percent through managing lifestyle choices.

Dr McInerney came to researching dementia care via a long career in nursing and education. ‘I’m a nurse and in my early career I worked in neurosurgery so was always interested in the brain. I went to do further study when nursing degrees became available in the 1980s, and I thought aged care would be an easy way to get the funding I needed.’ She laughs. ‘It was the hardest work I’ve ever done. It was so challenging and inspiring – and I got the aged care bug. Part of this was because of the complexity of needs that older people have: physical, psychological, social, and spiritual.’

Subsequently Dr McInerney became interested in how people live well and die well in institutional care. ‘Then I studied palliative care, with my particular interest being older people and their needs as death approaches. Of course, I was exposed to people with dementia, and this then became my focus.’

‘I’ve been at Wicking since 2014. I’m probably one of the happiest employees at UTAS. I’m able to work and also live in a place I love and with people I love. The range of colleagues I have is diverse, and we share the vision and drive to improve the quality of life of those with dementia, and to prevent the condition. Everyone is so excited and passionate about it. I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.

‘Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia so there is a great need. Wicking is a place where this is understood and embraced. UTAS is a very warm place to work, and a very creative place to work.’