World Alzheimer’s Day is an international campaign to raise awareness about dementia. It’s a day when we ask people to pay attention to dementia, educate themselves, and recognize the effect it has on their community.
This year we’re asking for help to recover from the pandemic. COVID-19 has been particularly difficult for people living with dementia in our region. In 2015-2016, more than two-thirds of people living in long term care had dementia. Isolation and distress worsen the symptoms of dementia, so as COVID-19 spread through long-term care homes last year, people with dementia were particularly impacted.
We’re asking our community members to consider visiting donatealz.ca, clicking the donate button, and signing up to be monthly donor to the Alzheimer Society of Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton. Just ten dollars a month provides support services like counselling, support groups, or an educational workshop for someone in our region living with dementia. Twenty dollars a month provides access to an 8-week Minds in Motion social and recreational program. Programs like these have been shown to improve outcomes for people living with dementia.
Those who sign up to be monthly donors in September will have their donations matched for a year by the Booth family in memory of Walter Booth.
People can also get involved by checking in with loved ones living with dementia and their caregivers. Call them on the phone or make a visit. Ask them how they are and listen to what they say. If they haven’t been in contact with the Alzheimer Society, suggest they call us. We are here to help. They don’t need an official diagnosis to get in touch. They don’t have to go through this alone.
In Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton, 8590 people are currently living with dementia. They have family and friends helping to support them. That’s a lot of people directly affected by dementia. Take a moment on September 21st to think about how the pandemic has affected people you know who are living with dementia, and if you’re able, reach out and offer your support.
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