Holistic approach needed to deal with dementia
September is World Alzheimer’s Month. Alzheimer’s disease International reports that someone in the world develops dementia every three seconds.
In Canada, it has been estimated that the annual cost to care for people living with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias is $10.4 billion, and that the number of people living with dementia will rise to 937,000 within the next 15 years. In B.C., an estimated 70,000 people currently live with dementia.
Many of us consider dementia almost exclusively a health-care issue. Yet, for those affected, concerns do not end upon leaving the doctor’s office. In addition to feelings of grief and loss, people may wonder how they’ll continue to participate in their communities and do things they enjoy. They also have practical worries, ranging from accessing housing and income supports to ensuring that HandyDart and other transportation options are available.
Dementia’s impact on a person’s life extends beyond the health-care system. For this reason, our solutions must, too. As a first step, we must expand the conversation. We must acknowledge that there is more to a person than their health, whether we are speaking about people living with dementia, or people who are simply growing older.
We have seen this more holistic approach at the federal level with the appointment of MP Filomena Tassi as the country’s first minister of seniors. Tassi’s role, according to the PMO, is to better understand the needs of Canadian seniors and ensure that programs and services are developed that respond to Canada’s aging population.
Meanwhile, the Government of Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada continue their work on a national dementia strategy. This coordinated, targeted effort at the national level aims to coordinate resources, scale up best practices and ensure equal levels of care across the country.
The spirit and attitude of such efforts needs to be echoed provincially. Taking a more holistic approach means broadening the responsibilities of our provincial government ministries to better reflect the impacts of aging and dementia on our society.
We need to start thinking beyond health to housing, transportation, labour, education, mental health and addictions, and community planning — and the ministries responsible for these.
By integrating a seniors and dementia strategy into the mandates of multiple government ministries we can better position people to lead longer, healthier lives within the community. We can support families along their journeys with aging and dementia, including when they transition to long-term care.
But no less can the work stop at one ministry than it can at one level of government. The services provided by municipal governments — whether libraries, recreation centres or first responders — affect the daily lives of many of us. Local governments can play a key role in developing age-friendly and dementia-friendly communities.
In many parts of B.C., we are seeing the development and implementation of dementia-friendly action plans developed in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of B.C., with the goal of creating more supportive, inclusive communities around the province.
A crucial component in the development of these age-friendly and dementia-friendly action plans is the meaningful engagement of the people they are created to support — an engagement that must extend beyond tokenism.
This means ensuring that seniors and people living with dementia are afforded the opportunities to speak for themselves, whether on committees, in professional groups or when city planning initiatives are considered.
It means remembering that seniors and people living with dementia are unique individuals, with lessons to teach us and important contributions to make.
We often say that becoming a dementia-friendly community is a journey as opposed to a destination. This philosophy should inform how we work toward creating a better B.C. for all seniors — and it’s a journey we must take together.