What you should know about dementia #WorldAlzheimer’sDay
JOBURG – "Many of society’s perceptions regarding dementia are incorrect, and it is important that we learn from the pioneers in this field," explains CEO of Auria Senior Living Barry Kaganson.
Today, 21 September, is World Alzheimer’s Day – a day dedicated to raising awareness and challenging the stigma that surrounds dementia.
In the past years, the number of people living with dementia has significantly grown not only in South Africa but the rest of the world. Worldwide population growth and an ageing global population drive this growth.
According to alz.org, dementia is not a single disease. It’s an overall term — like heart disease — that covers a wide range of specific medical conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease. Disorders grouped under the general term ‘dementia’ are caused by abnormal brain changes. These diseases are higher among people over the age of 70, although it can occur in younger people.
CEO of Auria Senior Living Barry Kaganson said, “Finding a senior living environment that provides adequate care for someone with cognitive decline is particularly challenging and stressful, both for the person concerned and their immediate family. Advances in medicine have greatly enhanced our understanding of the group of conditions broadly characterised as dementia, but the unfortunate reality is that not all facilities offer care on a level commensurate with this understanding.”
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“Seniors don’t want to be consigned to a stereotypical ‘old age home’ these days. In addition, those who are aware of their own cognitive decline are often fearful of being removed from their familiar surroundings and effectively institutionalised. The trauma to the ‘patient’ as well as to their spouse and adult children can be enormous, and for many, it signals the end of quality of life. We, therefore, saw a need in the market for more dedicated dementia care facilities to be made available so that patients can live a life of meaning despite the constraints of dementia.”
Kaganson added that it is clear that incidents of dementia, along with the need for dedicated dementia care facilities, will only grow in future. “Many of society’s perceptions regarding dementia are incorrect, and it is important that we learn from the pioneers in this field. This is not a condition that can be ‘treated’ in the traditional medical sense – what we need to do is to provide the most supportive environment possible in which people can live out their lives in a supportive environment, specifically geared to their needs.”
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“The leaders in the field say that if this means having their spouse, pets or grandchildren around them, or if it means being able to take part in activities they find pleasurable or meaningful, then so be it. In fact, the more ‘normal’ an environment can be, the better.”
Kaganson concluded that as greater numbers of people are likely to be diagnosed with dementia in future, it will also be important to dispel myths and break down stigmas associated with dementia in broader society.
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