Friday
Alister Robertson, Board member of Alzheimers NZ and Dementia Alliance International, opened the second day of the Conference by introducing us all to what it means to live well following a diagnosis of dementia.
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“In many respects, today is for us. We have a wide range of topics and speakers focussed on the things that can and do help us live our best possible lives with independence and dignity.”
Phil Wood and Lynette Tippett from Brain Research New Zealand began by updating us on the current direction of dementia research. While encouraging studies were underway, they issued a caution against the ‘magic bullet’ headlines we see so often in the media.
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“Dementia is most likely caused by multiple factors, there is no single cause, so there is unlikely to be a single cure.”
In the meantime, Lynette suggested that we all focus on lifestyle changes we can adopt to help us reduce our risk of developing dementia, or live well with a diagnosis of dementia. Essentially, this meant doing everything we can to keep our hearts healthy. How we do this however, did not work on a ‘one size fits all’ basis. It was up to us to find physical and social activities that work for us as individuals.
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Indeed, as Matthew Croucher stated in the next session:
“A purely medical approach to dementia support is not enough. We need to focus on personhood, the collection of those qualities that make us a unique person in our own eyes and in the eyes of others.”
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Following a wonderful performance by the CeleBRation Choir, we started our discussions on how we might approach living well with dementia, beginning with diet. Carol Wham explained that there is good evidence to support the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, which is plant and non-refined cereals based, low in processed foods, red meat and dairy.
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Julie Cummins then challenged us to change the way we think about exercise, and find something that we enjoy and works for us. Above all, Julie urged us to move a little bit more and make our hearts stronger.
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Enjoyment was also a focus of Gary Cheung’s discussion of the benefits of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST), which aims to actively stimulate and engage people with dementia, whilst providing a positive social environment in a group setting.
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“CST is about fun. Make time for the cognitively stimulating activities that you’ve always enjoyed. And then try adding something new. Generate some mental sweat!”
Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa made an emotional address to delegates, reflecting on her own family’s dementia journey.
“The health system must be ready to support the ageing population. We need to be proactive, flexible and improve equity. Services need to be culturally relevant and respond to people’s needs.”
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Matthew Croucher commended the Minister on her words and urged her to bring the issue to the political table as a matter of urgency.
Discussions about living well with dementia resumed with Chris Perkins reflecting spirituality and how this might be affected by dementia, noting that spirituality is not just about religion, but also about connectedness, arts, nature, religion and place.
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Oleg Kiriaev picked up on some of previous discussions around communication by reiterating the importance of approaching difficult conversations with an open mind.
“Fears, losses and uncertainties can make conversations difficult, and are often compounded by our responses. Often it’s the way things are said, or what not has been said, that’s important.”
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