Stigma of dementia must be broken

Oct 30 2008 Buckinghamshire Advertiser

This week, the Alzheimer's Society published a new report entitled Dementia: Out of the Shadows, which examines the impact a diagnosis has on the lives of people with dementia and highlights the importance of tackling head-on the stigmas which many still attach to the condition.

There are currently 4,875 people in the Buckinghamshire area with dementia, and this figure is set to rise to 7,103 by 2021.

This trend clearly demonstrates the need for transparent information about dementia, and of increasing public understanding of it in order that it may be treated appropriately and sensitively.

As the executive director of a home which will open in Beaconsfield in the new year and which will care for those with Alzheimer's and dementia, I am sadly all too aware of the limited understanding of this condition and the lack of comprehensive information available to the wider public.

Unless we tackle these issues head-on, it is inevitable that the patients, and indeed those that care for them, will continue to suffer.

By opening up the subject of Alzheimer's and dementia and by lifting the taboo around it, we will help to ensure that the process of diagnosis is no longer the "long, protracted and at times distressing experience" the report refers to, and that sufferers will be able to live with their condition in the best possible way, with the best possible support.

KAREN THOMAS

Executive Director Sunrise Senior Living