Editor:
The word Alzheimer’s for some is a shameful word. There is that much of a stigma around the word and the disease it represents.
The Alzheimer Society of BC’s recent campaign, Jim’s Push for a Plan, helped bring this disease out of the shadows and highlight the 70,000-plus British Columbians already diagnosed and living with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia.
Yes you read correctly: more than 70,000 people are already diagnosed, and there are many, many more not yet diagnosed.
Is this province ready for the baby-boom bubble and the resulting increase in numbers of people with a dementia?
I don’t know about you, but I’m very concerned.
And that’s why, in this pre-election period the society and I are asking candidates where they stand on a dementia plan – a plan that includes support for family caregivers, programs that help with early diagnosis and training for health-care workers.
Isn’t it worth a few minutes to ask?
Jim Mann, Surrey
