An estimated 65,000 Australians are living alone with dementia and researchers are keen to know more about their lives.

In the new year, a team from the Dementia Collaborative Research Centre will launch a study into the lives of Australians with dementia who live alone.

Of the 225,000 Australians estimated to be living in the community with dementia, not in an aged care facility, about a third live by themselves.

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With that number increasing, Alzheimer's Australia has identified the area as its top research priority.

Lead researcher Dr Jennifer Fletcher said the study wanted to establish how people at home with the condition were faring.

She said one of the biggest problems was locating the study's subjects, as dementia sufferers were sometimes too afraid to answer the door and the phone.

"We really want to know how they're doing, and in our study we want to compare them to people who don't live alone," she said.

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"I suspect there's a lot of people and who are living alone and who are unseen.

"So you might not know that your neighbour has dementia, and they're coping with those sorts of difficulties."

She said researchers would focus their efforts on several suburbs in south-east Sydney.

Routine and notes now part of live

Ray, who lives about an hour outside of Melbourne, is one of the many people with dementia living alone.

He had a 35-year career with Victoria Police and was diagnosed with dementia in February.

During his time with the police, his life was all about systems and routine. Now he brings the same approach to living alone with dementia.

Next to his front door are two columns of notes and cards.

"Anything I have waiting to be done I write on a piece of paper, I put it down by the front door," he said.

Ray has implemented a system to manage his dementia, leaving cards and notes around his home to remind him to do daily tasks. ( ABC News )

"It means every time I go in and out, I'll see those pieces of paper, and I'll see the dates, and I know those things have to be attended to."

Ray uses similar techniques in town.

He deliberately makes extra trips to the ATM to help him recall the steps he needs to follow.

"I do it twice a week instead of once a week. And that way, I remember it better because I'm using it more often," he said.

Some of those living with dementia, like Ray, say they actually do better on their own.

"Living with dementia by myself means that I have to do everything," he said.

"Everything from buying my own food, going to the bank, paying my bills, all of those things that I have to do means that I keep using my brain."

Staying active key to being at home

Breda in Canberra also has her systems.

The 70-year-old lives alone and has had dementia for more than a decade.

She devotes an hour a day to word games to help exercise her mind, and she regularly spreads birdfeed in the backyard to stay active.

It all helps her keep her spirits up and stay in her own home.

Breda, 70, from Canberra, uses word games to keep her mind sharp enough to keep living independently while suffering from dementia. ( ABC News )

"You have to keep trying to be independent," she said.

"It's good for you. It's good for anybody."

Dementia researchers said Breda and Ray were lucky.

Both had regular family visits, and Breda had a care worker who came once a week to take her to the shops – something she was not able to do anymore on her own.

"Going to town alone is not very good sometimes. I forget where I am," Breda said.

Dr Fletcher said there would be a lot more people like Ray and Breda in the future.