CREATING a dementia friendly community was the key topic of discussion at a dementia awareness forum held at City Hall yesterday.
Alzheimer’s Australia South Australia (AASA) chief executive Rajiv Chand presented the Dementia Friendly Community Forum, providing information and advice to carers and community members on how to better accommodate the needs of people living with dementia.
“This forum is an opportunity to discuss what the Mount Gambier community can do to empower people with dementia to live well,” Mr Chand said.
“It might be simple things, for example retailers can learn how to communicate with people living with dementia and city’s can improve signage to allow people with dementia to navigate more easily.”
Mr Chand said Alzheimer’s Australia launched the national Dementia Friendly Community campaign to raise awareness and improve understanding of the disease.
“Dementia is the second leading cause of death in Australia and has a massive economic and societal impact and an individual impact,” he said.
“We aim to raise awareness and reduce the stigma surrounding the disease – there are many negative emotions associated with diagnosis.
“Just because you’ve been diagnosed doesn’t mean your life stops – people with dementia are still able to live positively, contribute to society and live with meaning, purpose and value.”
AASA Dementia Advisory Committee chair Ian Gladstone spoke about his personal experience living with dementia.
Diagnosed ten years ago, Mr Gladstone still lives independently at nearly 69 years old.
“I was diagnosed with semantic dementia which affects basically only my language – my memory is still good, thank goodness,” he said.
“I had a choice to either mope or cope and I was lucky my family and friends were very supportive and my sister offered to be my carer.
“You don’t notice any changes yourself and my family and I always try to focus on the funny side of things – I’ll quite often call the fridge the stove or vice versa.”
Visit www.dementiafriendly.org.au for further information on how to create a dementia-friendly community.
