Dementia workshops highly sought after
Alzheimers Taranaki’s free series of workshops are so popular there is a waiting list.
Each session has been capped at 60 people, and there’s more than 30 people waiting for their chance to participate in the workshops, which started with a talk about understanding dementia on Tuesday, July 26.
This was run by Alzheimers Taranaki field workers Anne Fletcher and Delwyn Wallace. ’’Basically it’s a broad overview about dementia, some facts and figures,’’ Fletcher said.
It’s estimated there will be 150,000 people in New Zealand with dementia by the year 2050.
‘‘People say the numbers are increasing but they’ve also got to consider the fact that we’re living longer. So therefore that may be a contributing factor to why the numbers seem to be increasing.’’
She also points out that now people are living into their 90s or even 100s and few are cognitively sound when they reach that age. ’’There is a certain element of cognitive decline that comes with aging.’’
Another topic covered was the anatomy of the brain, areas affected by dementia and how the organ physically changes with the disease.
‘‘With frontal lobe dementia it affects a person’s executive functioning their behaviour, their personality,’’ she said.
‘‘With alzheimers it affects memory so the brain shrinks and the person, on autopsy there seems to be large areas of the brain which are just vacant space. Depending on the diagnosis, the type of dementia, is how it presents.’’
Fletcher said the most common question people ask them was what’s the difference between alzheimers and dementia?
‘‘We use the word dementia as an umbrella term. Under that, alzheimers probably contributes 50 per cent of people who have dementia.’’
There could be as many as 140 different types of dementia caused by a multitude of reasons including vascular issues, other diseases like motor neuron disorder, or even anaesthetic.
Due to the popularity of the workshops Alzheimers Taranaki is holding another series in Stratford starting on September 22, and another in New Plymouth early next year.
Contact Alzheimers Taranaki on email alzheimers. taranaki@xtra.co.nz or 06 769 6916.