New Alzheimer’s awareness program available to Strathmore
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
As a new January marks Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, Alzheimer’s Calgary is highlighting their new Dementia Share Card initiative, which is currently being launched throughout Alberta.
“This is really about empowering people to be able to communicate a discreet message. You might be out in public, you are out in the community with your parent or grandparent or your spouse and the communication might not be as easy or the behaviors might be a little bit unexpected,” said Jill Petrovic, a strategist with Alzheimer’s Calgary. “This is a way of sharing an important message that just asks for a little bit of empathy, a little bit of patience and time to help communicate what is going on.”
She added an example of such a time being at a restaurant to look at a menu and needing generous time to make decisions or being at a grocery store and perhaps requiring additional assistance.
The Dementia Share Card aims to serve as a discreet way of asking for help that is able to be downloaded to a smartphone, and a physical copy may also be ordered for free from the Alzheimer’s Calgary office.
“This is something we have heard there was a need for in the community for a while. We used to have some kind of version of it that you could create yourself at home, and we know of people who have created their own cards as well because they have had awkward or uncomfortable public situations,” said Petrovic. “This one, we thought, now is the time; let us put something out there that everyone can access; it does not matter who you are, and it just makes things so much easier to be able to facilitate those public interactions.”
January serves as Alzheimer’s Awareness month, as it directly follows the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, when many people are likely to have been visiting family members. This presents opportunities to notice potential irregularities or changes in behaviours, particularly of older family members.
Alzheimer’s Calgary works to serve not only the city, but also the surrounding regions which also include Strathmore and Wheatland County.
“The number one thing we do not want people to do is to be staying home in Strathmore, especially in a rural community if they are living on an acreage or a ranch, that is not the way to live well,” added Petrovic. “If we can encourage anything, it would be to, as much as possible, try and see people, try and get social. Do all the things that you used to do, and even if those are impacted a little bit, try to do them as best you can.”
More information about Alzheimer’s disease, how to recognize it, and the new Dementia Share Card program is available through the stillme.ca website.