Raising Alzheimer’s awareness: Learn how to support community members with condition

The Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia (ASNS) estimates there are 17,000 people in the province living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. January is Alzheimer’s Awareness month and the organization is encouraging Nova Scotians to take time to learn more about dementia and how to support community members who are living with it.

Linda Bird is the director of programs and services with ASNS. She says when people think about dementia, they often picture someone in the later stages of the disease, but the reality is that many people with dementia are still very active and involved community members. She says the question we need to consider is: “How do we make our community more friendly and more aware of the symptoms so that people [with dementia] can be engaged in regular activities as long as possible?”

Bird says the first step is to understand the disease.

“People think about dementia and they think about memory loss. It’s way more than memory loss,” she says. “It’s changes in judgment and reasoning, not being able to find the right words, not being able to express themselves, sometimes being disinhibited and maybe saying things more abruptly than they might have in the past. If people don’t understand this is part of a disease, they can take it personally or be uncomfortable and back away from someone instead of understanding that this is a symptom of how the disease is playing out in that individual.”

Bird says one of the most important ways to support someone who has dementia is to continue to treat them with dignity and respect. This includes involving them in conversations and learning how to adjust communication styles if needed. She suggests slowing down a conversation, waiting for someone to answer before filling in words, engaging them in topics that they have had a long-term passion for and taking cues from their body language or temperament about when to change a topic. Bird says it’s important to be calm and reassuring if someone needs a bit more time than they used to need to respond.

“Social interaction is really important,” she says. “Instead of being nervous because someone you know has been diagnosed with dementia, and then avoiding them, learn about the disease and find out how you can help. Maybe it’s accompanying them on a walk, maybe it’s taking a book over and talking about hobbies they enjoy, but stay connected. Besides physical activity, staying connected is one of the key things we can do to help curb the symptoms, and even to reduce the risk of developing dementia in the first place.”

Bird points to an online program called Dementia Friends Canada (www.dementiafriends.ca) that helps people better understand dementia, and then encourages a commitment to help people with dementia live well, starting by recognizing that people are defined by more than their illness.

“The whole campaign this month is about seeing the person with dementia first — seeing them as a person, not seeing them as the disease,” Bird says.

For more information, including resources on how to support people who are living with dementia, please visit www.alzheimer.ca/en/ns.