January is Alzheimer’s Awareness month, and the Alzheimer Society of B.C. wants to emphasize that dementia does not just impact those suffering from it: friends, family, and members of the community all feel the social and personal impacts. That is why the society is asking residents to be #InItForAlz to show support for all the people affected by the disease.
“It’s about making dementia not just someone else’s problem, but everyone’s concern,” says Tara Hildebrand, the society’s regional education and support coordinator for Ashcroft, Cache Creek, and the Central Interior region. “Dementia should be a cause that we can all rally around.”
She notes that the campaign occurs every year, and that in 2017 the focus is not on numbers and statistics, but on the fact that the disease is not confined to those who have it. “We want to bring Alzheimer’s and dementia issues to the forefront, and try to include people with dementia.”
The term “dementia” covers a wide range of types, of which Alzheimer’s is one, and Hildebrand says it can be difficult to diagnose what type of dementia a person is suffering from. Alzheimer’s, she says, is the one people hear about most often; but many people suffer from more than one type.
“We want to make sure people have the correct diagnosis, but that can be difficult when you’re dealing with multiple diagnoses.
“The biggest risk factor [for dementia] is age,” she adds, noting that many baby boomers are now in the higher risk category. “Our job is to educate people about what are the warning signs. And we can help families understand the disease as a whole, and understand what the next steps are. Instead of being frustrated when a person asks the same question 25 times in a row, we can stand back and try to understand. The more we know, the better we do.”
In addition to having a major impact on the provincial health care budget—“It’s never going to go away”—dementia has a huge impact on caregivers. “The education piece, and support, are vital for caregivers,” says Hildebrand. “Many people don’t understand the level of care needed. People with dementia aren’t just forgetting things; they’re unlearning things.
“People miss being a husband or wife, and need help adapting to being caregivers. The more support we can give that caregiver to support their loved one at home, the more we can help the health care system.”
Hildebrand ran a very successful series of workshops about Alzheimer’s and dementia in Ashcroft last spring and summer, and says there will be more education on these topics coming to Ashcroft and area in the future. In the meantime, she says that the society holds tele-workshops every month for people in remote and rural areas.
“You just need a phone; you don’t even need a computer,” she says. All participants need to do is call 1-866-994-7745 a few minutes before the scheduled workshop, and enter the pass code 1122333. The next tele-workshop—“Helping with Memory Loss”—takes place on Wednesday, February 8 at 2 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. The workshop will help people learn strategies to help the person with dementia better cope with a decline in memory, and preserve their independence. It will also show how simple adaptations to your routine and to the environment can help minimize frustrations for both caregivers and the person with dementia.
Hildebrand says that with the increase in the number of people suffering from dementia, more care facilities are needed. “Ashcroft has 12 beds for long-term care, but not all will be for people with dementia.
“We don’t have the long-term solution; but the more awareness we have, the better the chance that we can come up with short-term solutions in the meantime.”
For more information about the Alzheimer Society of B.C., go to www.alzheimer.ca/bc/.
