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In short:
A mother and daughter have shared how buying a takeaway shop helped them manage a dementia diagnosis in their family.
Experts say family-based approaches to handling dementia could be crucial as Australia's population ages.
What's next?
By 2058, the number of Australians living with dementia is expected to double from an estimated 400,000 to about 800,000.
Customers walking into the takeaway shop at Urana, in southern NSW, might never suspect how important it is to Sue Macgregor and her family that she serves them.
The 70-year-old has had dementia for the past six years, and her daughter thought buying a business so her mother could work in it might be a way to slow her decline as long as possible by keeping her active.
Michelle Forrester and her mother left Sydney to buy the shop which is nestled in the small lakeside town.
Ms Macgregor has been working in the shop with her daughter for the past three years, keeping physically and socially active while the profits from the business help pay for her care.
"I thought Michelle was crazy [when she pitched the idea of running a shop together], but I thought, 'Ah well, I'll give it a go' and here we are, still into it," she said.
"People talk to you and I have fun talking to them, and the food's good."
Ms Forrester said she structured the business so her mother could live well.
"We have some carers come in and work with her in the shop," she said.
"They can help her make some sandwiches, make some milkshakes, make lolly bags, whatever is easy for her to do and to feel like she's part of it and connected."
Lee-Fay Low, a professor of health and aging at the University of Sydney, said the pair's journey challenged stereotypes about all people with dementia needing intense care.
"I think we have a very strong stereotype that people with dementia are quite disabled, incapable and ready to go into a nursing home," she said.
"We know that if someone is in the milder stages of dementia then staying physically, mentally and socially active does help reduce how fast you progress; [there is] plenty of research around that."
Bill Yeates was diagnosed with early-onset dementia in 2019 at the age of 59.
Since then, he has advocated for ways to help people with dementia live better lives.
He is a strong believer in the benefits of exercise and is currently training for a marathon in Spain.
He said including people with dementia in appropriate work was a great way to keep them active.
"In a situation where you're working in a fish and chip shop, you're on the go all the time," he said.
"So, you're getting a lot of exercise but you're also engaging with the customers and your other workers."
Professor Low said with an aging population, the number of Australians living with dementia is expected to double by 2058, from an estimated 400,000 to about 800,00.
She said supporting that many people with dementia may require changes in workplaces.
"I suspect government services — the way they're providing them now — won't be enough," she said.
"Families will really have a key role in that, which means that perhaps employers will need to provide flexible arrangements ... in the same way that we support families of young kids.
"We're going to need to support working families to really look after their elders."