This project was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) through the Partnerships Projects Scheme (ID 2005759). Project partners included the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI), Dementia Australia, the Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIT), the Migrant and Refugee Health Partnership, the New South Wales Health Care Interpreting Service, All Graduates Interpreting and Translating Services, and the Commonwealth Department of Home Affairs' Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National). Additional funding was later provided by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care to support the national roll-out of the training programme.
The MINDSET Study aimed to enhance the quality of interpreter-mediated communication during cognitive assessments for dementia (protocol published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions). The study was prompted by earlier research indicating that interpreters were increasingly working with clients living with dementia, yet often had limited training or knowledge about the condition. This lack of specialist knowledge contributed to inconsistencies in interpretation, undermining the validity of cognitive assessments, decreasing both clinician and patient satisfaction, and placing additional strain on healthcare services. Notably, interpreters themselves acknowledged the need for targeted dementia training.
To address this gap, we co-designed an online training programme for interpreters in partnership with clinicians, interpreters, and ethnically diverse family carers of people with dementia. The training was later evaluated in a trial involving 126 interpreters. Results demonstrated a significant intervention effect on the quality of interpreted communication among those who completed at least 70% of the training (mean score difference: 2.73; 95% CI: 0.14–5.31; P = .04), with findings published in Dementia and JAMA Network Open. This ground-breaking trial was the first of its kind globally and underscored the pivotal role interpreters play in supporting timely dementia diagnoses—especially in multicultural and linguistically diverse settings such as Australia.
The MINDSET training was then made freely available to all interpreters in Australia, regardless of language or experience. Over a 12-month period (24 November 2023 to 12 December 2024), 865 interpreters across 97 languages from every state and territory completed the training, achieving a high pass rate of 99%.
This world-first initiative has directly contributed to the Australian Government's National Dementia Action Plan, particularly Action 4, which focuses on timely diagnosis. The study has also attracted international interest, with a European team now collaborating with us—through an Alzheimer's US grant—to replicate the project in Europe.
