Preventing, Caring, Curing.
In support of Dementia Awareness Week, Graeme visited Alzheimer Scotland’s Angus Dementia Resource Centre to highlight the local support services available for those affected by dementia, and their families and carers.
Dementia Awareness Week (DAW) runs from Monday 30 May to Sunday 5 June and aims to both raise awareness of dementia and help to improve the lives of those living with dementia.
– Graeme
I was very pleased to meet with Pat and some carers at the Angus Dementia Resource Centre as part of Dementia Awareness Week. It was very inspiring to hear about all the fantastic work they are doing in providing support locally for those living with dementia, and their families and carers. It was also encouraging to discuss the ways in which we can raise awareness about the impacts of memory loss.
I was particularly impressed to hear of how the Centre has adapted to the pressures caused by the pandemic by maintaining many of their community groups and activities online. I hope this year’s theme to prevent, care, and cure dementia together will encourage those with worries of memory loss to reach out to groups like Alzheimer Scotland and receive the support they need, as well as those around them.
Angus Dementia Resource Centre, based in Arbroath, offers information and advice and community activities for people with dementia and their carers, as well as peer and carer support groups. The centre itself is again fully operational and staff are back out working across Angus offering ‘Let’s Talk About Dementia’ sessions and activities in various towns.
This year, the theme for Dementia Awareness Week is ‘Let’s Prevent, Care, Cure dementia together’. Throughout the week, Alzheimer Scotland are hosting a series of events, including their ‘Tea & Blether’ campaign, a coffee morning style fundraising initiative that asks supporters to start conversations about dementia with those around them.
With dementia diagnosis rates at a five-year low, there is a particular focus on improving the diagnosis process. As memory loss is typically associated with normal ageing, denial can act as a significant barrier to people seeking a dementia diagnosis, as well as referral times to specialists.
Organisations, like the Angus Dementia Resource Centre, are determined to offer the necessary support that will allow those living with dementia, or those not yet diagnosed with dementia, to feel empowered to take the next step in what can be a frightening journey.
– Angus Dementia Resource Centre
Graeme’s visit was a great way to launch Dementia Awareness Week in Angus; the carers present very much appreciated the opportunity to talk first hand with Graeme about their personal journeys, the highs and lows of their daily life and share some of the barriers and obstacles that they face every day.
The carers were also able to share what peer support meant to them with one carer saying ‘it feels as though part of me is missing if I don’t go to the group.’
