By Dan Hermanutz

getting rid of the stigma

Help is out there for families living with Alzheimer’s diagnoses

Jan 20, 2020 | 11:48 AM

January, which is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, recognizes the roughly half a million Canadians living with the disease and about 25,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

Alzheimer’s is a disease that comes with plenty of unwarranted stigma simply because people are uneducated about it.

“Three years ago when we started this campaign to end the stigma and challenge the public to learn more about dementia, we did a cross-Canada survey, and at that time one-in-four Canadians shared they would be ashamed or embarrassed to share that they have a dementia diagnosis,” says Michele Mulder, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

“We received really interesting information about fear, embarrassment, shame, and that most people think it’s an old person’s disease, but it isn’t. It is not a normal part of aging, in fact, and our youngest client is 48-years-old with young children still at home and is working.”

Many people with dementia and Alzheimer’s, Mulder points out, have a lot to contribute to society.

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Alzheimer’s Awareness Month is also meant to educate people about proper vocabulary to use when talking about the disease.

“We don’t say suffering. That’s one piece of the stigma we’re trying to change because people can actually live well with dementia. They don’t particularly suffer, until maybe towards the end.”

With around 500,000 diagnosed cases in Canada, that means there are a multitude more of spouses and families who become caregivers.

“One of the biggest helps through our journey has been the Alzheimer’s society here in Red Deer,” says Terry Rudge, whose wife of nearly fifty years was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2015. “The Alzheimer’s group was our starting point shortly after we moved here. We went down and basically walked into the office and said ‘Hey, we’re looking for some help,’ and they’ve been excellent through it all.”

The Rudge’s had been living in Manitoba pre-diagnosis, but moved to Red Deer in order to be closer to family and medical care.

“She is an accomplished teacher, and was a person who would get up and speak at public meetings, who volunteered her time and money. She worked with a group of people to make sure a young man got education down in Mexico to the point where he became a lawyer,” says Rudge.

“Then the diagnosis came, and suddenly our lives changed.”

For more information on Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, visit ilivewithdementia.ca.