Consensus on dementia bodes well

Re Working together, Editorial March 20 Kudos to MPs from the three main parties for their efforts to put this important health and wellness issue on the Canadian map. This unlikely troika made history by eschewing politics and coming together as a team with a holistic and co-ordinated approach to craft and push for a national strategy for addressing the dementia crisis.

Citizens must be very vocal in their support of this well-intentioned strategy, which aims to deliver on improved standards of care and focus on clear, evidence-based depression treatments.

The rapid rise in the incidence of this dreaded disease suggests that unless vigorous steps are put in place to halt the rapidly unfolding dementia tsunami, the health and economic prosperity of Canada’s future will be severely compromised.

The very magnitude of the dementia problem should act as a catalyst to encourage us all to take the high road and work together to help stem the tide and piggy back on the rapid progress being made in effectively managing this most debilitating and dehumanizing disease.

This consensus strategy against dementia demands our strong support, as this initiative will effectively stem the mounting tide of devastation wrought by dementia over time. Rudy Fernandes, Mississauga

Implementing a national dementia strategy will not only bring Canada in line with our G7 counterparts, but it will also provide us with the opportunity to be a leader on the challenges dementia poses to the criminal justice system.

Existing strategies are generally silent on the issue, yet people with dementia who are accused of a crime face a justice system that is ill-prepared to respond to their needs.

Recently, a Yukon man with dementia was in jail for six weeks waiting for a fitness-to-stand-trial assessment. Despite eventually being found unfit, he languished in jail. His story is part of a small but growing trend of people with dementia becoming caught up in the ill-equipped criminal justice system.

A national dementia strategy ought to consider how the justice system can better manage this vulnerable cohort. Heather Campbell, Stoney Creek. Ont.