Are your family or friends living with dementia?
If so, you may have questions about how to help them. Fortunately, the non-profit Alzheimer Society of B.C. has plenty of answers. And local residents can get its assistance through a pair of free tele–workshops next month.
The first, How to Speak Up About Dementia and Make Changes to the System, explains what you can do to make long-lasting social change for people with dementia and their families.
Speakers Barbara Lindsay and Rebecca Morris will provide the tools needed to advocate for a dementia strategy in B.C. -- an important plan given the rapidly rising incidence rate of this pressing health issue. “There is a role for you. Lasting change can’t happen without your voice,” says Lindsay.
The tele-workshop runs on April 1 at 7 p.m.
Area residents can also get some practical tips at the second tele-workshop, How to Support a Friend Who Has Dementia or is a Caregiver.
It will offer ideas for communicating with a person with dementia, for offering support and providing options on the kind of help the person with dementia, their caregiver or family might appreciate. The tele-workshop is not aimed at primary caregivers. It runs on April 23 at 2 p.m.
Connecting to the sessions is as easy as visiting momentum.adobeconnect.com/alzheimerbc (enter as a Guest) or phoning toll-free 1-866-994-7745, then entering pass code 1122333 when prompted.
For more information about other upcoming tele-workshops or to view shortened recordings of past sessions go to www.alzheimerbc.org/We-Can-Help/Telephone-Workshops.aspx.
For more information on Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, which affect one in 11 Canadians over the age of 65, visit the Society website at www.alzheimerbc.org.