Dementia Australia is challenging Australians to reconnect with someone impacted by dementia and help combat social isolation this Dementia Action Week.
This year’s theme, Nobody Can Do It Alone, highlights the importance of friends and family in supporting people living with dementia and supporting people who are caring for loved ones with the condition – as more than half of carers feel isolated.
It is also important to consider alternative approaches to caring for someone with dementia and personalised approaches can be very beneficial, said Dr Debra Graves – an experienced health and medical sector leader and co-author of To Dementia With Love about her experience of caring for her husband who lived with dementia.
The 2023 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Dementia Awareness Survey found 83 per cent of Australians believed people with dementia can enjoy life, and Dr Graves said that while it is of course useful to take advice from people, it’s also important to not feel “constrained by other people’s expertise.”
“Most people now recognise that taking a personalised approach to anyone who has dementia, makes a lot of sense and offers benefits. It’s important to remember that someone with dementia is still a person, who had personal interests and preferences before their diagnosis. Personalised care is about tailoring care to the person they have always been. For instance, don’t change how you lived your lives just because of a dementia diagnosis; if your loved one enjoyed going to concerts, keep going to concerts for as long as you can,” she said.
Dr Graves emphasised to Community Care Review that the support of family and friends through the journey is essential for the person living with dementia and their carers. It is also key to talk about dementia in the post-diagnosis period because there is still a stigma around it.
“It’s like cancer used to be … people are just a little bit reticent to actually raise it or talk about it and I think people shouldn’t feel that way,” she told CCR.
“We need to try and normalise it and say, well, this is now part of their lives and I need to talk about it. It’s practical things, ‘what can I do to help? Do you want me to look after your husband while you go and have your hair done?’ Or something like that, practical things like that.”
Reflecting on her own experience as a carer, Dr Graves told CCR it is important to treat your loved one like usual and a part of what they were like before the diagnosis.
“I would have the friends come over and we’d have a glass of wine and he would be included in that conversation. So it was very important to have that normalisation and not talk down to him,” she said.
Tackling isolation and loneliness
Dementia Australia chief executive officer Tanya Buchanan said recent research showed that four in 10 people living with dementia lost touch with people post diagnosis.
“People affected by dementia often tell us that friends and family drift away after a diagnosis, because they are unsure of how to interact,” Professor Buchanan said.
(Dementia Australia)
“This leads to social isolation, loneliness and a sense of abandonment, especially for carers who are emotionally stretched and often feel alone.”
Last week, the AIHW announced that dementia is now the leading cause of death in Australia, and that there will be over 1 million people living with dementia in Australia by 2065. Currently, 433,300 Australians are living with dementia and there are 1.7 million people in carer roles.
To combat social isolation among people living with dementia and their carers, Dementia Australia has developed practical resources and tips to encourage people to reach out.
“It could be as simple as picking up the phone to reconnect or offering to help with everyday tasks,” she said. “We have great resources on our website to make it easy for people to reach out and show they care.”
Dementia Action Week runs from 15 – 21 September. Find out more and access resources here.
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