Dementia Awareness Campaign

Like many people, when asked what it is like having had a loved one suffer with Alzheimers disease, I find talking about it extremely difficult. To such a degree that until now, I never have. I assume it is a coping mechanism we adopt to hide the pain. Perhaps because it is hard for those who have not experienced the heartache, to comprehend how the devastating disease can take someone so dear to you away so slowly then so suddenly.

I lost my Grandma in 2018 to the disease. She was independent working woman, once capable of juggling her work life and the care of her 7 of children, then later on all 25 of her grandchildren. She began to show signs of Dementia in her early 70's but my family and I deemed them as her 'getting older' and 'being depressed' due to the loss of my grandad.

Until her memory lapses and deteriorated mood became regular occurrences, at this point it was decided medical intervention was the only option. Where she was later diagnosed with early stages of dementia. Her condition deteriorated quite suddenly, meaning she was sadly placed into a residential care home specialising in the aid of Alzheimers patients. The dementia quickly hindered her ability to complete day to day tasks including the ability to recall the names of her family grandchildren, that she had spent so many summers taking care of.

Even throughout her later years, as she struggled more and more to complete simple daily tasks, she would always begin our visits to the care home, by asking my brother and I the same question 'Are you courting?' She would smile waiting for our response, a smile that became increasingly vacant as her condition deteriorated.

Having a loved one with Alzheimers is difficult, as they begin to deteriorate, they start to lose the characteristics that as a collective created their personality. For my grandma it was her smile. After  almost a decade of suffering from the disease my grandma Jean passed away last year aged 84; with a sense of release and relief in some ways. As her passing meant she was no longer lost in a world that she used to thrive in.

Alzheimer's effects 25 million people in the UK, that is 43% of the population, who are either sufferers of the disease or know someone suffering from it. Yet it is a topic rarely discussed. Is it deemed as taboo? Or is due to the lack of knowledge on the devastating disease. A survey commissioned by the alzheimers society suggested that 50% of the people interviewed believed they did not know enough by the disease to spend a considerable amount of time with a Alzheimars patient.

Alzheimers is a disease, that despite the great work already being done is in need of more funding and awareness, to help both those suffering from the disease and those caring for patients. The Alzheimers Society have released statistics that the number of Alzheimer patients will rise from 700,000 to around 1.7 million by 2051. This number can only be reduced with help from charities such as Alzheimers Research UK.

For more information please visit https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/
To make a donation please call 0330 333 0804.