Amajuba District Municipality advocates for a dementia inclusive society
In honour of Alzheimer’s month, the Amajuba District municipality has launched a campaign to increase the awareness surrounding dementia.
The Amajuba District municipality hosted an outreach programme to advocate for a dementia inclusive society at the Osizweni Hall yesterday (September 27).
This innovative initiative, aimed at the enhancement of the healthcare and social support services for persons with dementia, was led by district mayor, Ndabuko Zulu.
Alzheimer’s, a prevalent type of dementia, is characterised by a progressive decline in intellectual functioning, particularly with memory loss, personality changes, and abstract thought.
The theme of the programme, “In Unity for Dementia,” focused on a number of dementia-related issues, including research, medical care, and the need for community assistance in erasing the stigma associated with the condition.
Dr. Khanyo Ngcobo, one of the specialists who spoke, noted an increase in cases of Alzheimer’s disease and provided more details on the condition.
Dr. Ngcobo also hinted that healthy lifestyle choices may assist minimise the prevalence of the disease or delay the development of impairment to some extent since disorders like hypertension and diabetes are some risk factors for dementia. However, the disease is neither avoidable nor curable.
In his address, Mayor Zulu stressed the importance of raising awareness for dementia.
“It is of great importance that we enhance awareness about dementia diagnosis and treatment options to individuals with dementia, their families, and care givers. Unfortunately through lack of knowledge, our society rejects individuals living with dementia by associating their dementia-related behaviour with witchcraft practices,” he remarked.
The mayor further announced that the municipality, in partnership with the Bessie Makathini Foundation, organised a training session for Community Care Givers on September 28.
The session is for community caregivers to further gain in-depth knowledge in addition to skills on how to further care for people living with dementia or related disorders.
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