Trevu House held a special afternoon tea last week to Mark Dementia Awareness Month. Around the world, Dementia Awareness Month seeks to raise awareness, support those living with dementia, and help raise funds to find a cure for this disease.
The event was MC’d by Nadia Stankevicius, the Lifestyle Coordinator and Dementia Champion at Trevu House. Ms Stankevicius said the theme for the month this year is the launch of “You’re Not Alone”. “This campaign is recognized throughout the world and the purpose of this awareness is to break down the barriers linked with the stigma around dementia, here in Australia,” said Ms Stankevicius. “As we know dementia is a condition, a collection of signs and symptoms that are caused by a number of diseases, the changes in a person can be memory loss, confusion, mood changes, and communication problems.” “Dementia is associated with ageing but is not a normal part of ageing.”
“It is anticipated by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare that dementia will be the greatest single contributor to disability in the elderly, with 413,000 Australian’s affected.”
Over 1300 new cases are identified every week with dementia as the second leading cause of death after heart disease and stroke. Local Member of Parliament, Mr Tony Piccolo who attended and spoke at the event said that dementia affected the lives of three groups of people.
“The person living with dementia is robbed of the ability to remain active in the general community, while their family members lose the opportunity to share in the family stories that help us understand who we are,” said Mr Piccolo. “We also need to be mindful of the people caring for people living with dementia, to ensure they are properly supported.”
“Dementia can lead to people becoming isolated from the rest of the community, so we need to find ways to engage people living with disability.” The event was supported by a number of local businesses and churches.