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home / 世界杯决赛2022

marylou harrigan: fifty-six per cent of canadians are concerned about developing alzheimer's

opinion: west coast conference on aging will focus on how we can improve elder care, including dementia care

by marylou harrigan

mar 30 2022
read time 2 minute read
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as the population ages and more people are diagnosed with dementia, that fear is itself reaching epidemic levels. according to the 2017 awareness survey, 56 per cent of canadians are concerned about developing alzheimer's. ocskaymark / getty images/istockphoto
seventy-three-year-old hollywood movie star samuel l. jackson is afraid of developing alzheimer’s disease. and for good reason: he has seen dementia from the other side, as six members of his family, including his mother, aunt, uncle and grandfather, all lived with the disease.
jackson’s fear inspired him to make the film the last days of ptolemy grey, a fictional fantasy about a man with dementia who is offered the chance to take a miracle drug that will restore his memories. the actor also starred in a short, two-minute film about alzheimer’s, all in the service of “fighting the fear.”
as the population ages and more people are diagnosed with dementia, that fear is itself reaching epidemic levels. according to the 2017 awareness survey, 56 per cent of canadians are concerned about developing alzheimer’s.
furthermore, fully half of those surveyed said they didn’t think they could live well with dementia, and more than one-quarter think their lives would be over following a diagnosis. one in five would avoid seeking help if they thought they were developing the disease.
those numbers reflect the stigma of alzheimer’s, and reveal that people fear what will happen to them if they develop the disease. this, sadly, is not an idle fear, since we know that many people with dementia receive less than ideal care.
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indeed, the covid pandemic highlighted the sorry state of canada’s long-term health-care system: those in care, most of whom live with alzheimer’s and related dementias, accounted for the vast majority of deaths in canada, particularly early in the pandemic.
that led to a number of provincial investigations into the state of long-term care in light of the pandemic, including one in b.c. and calls for a national independent inquiry are growing.
in addition, professional conferences are addressing the issue. here in b.c., providence health care’s west coast conference on aging, which takes place on april 1 and april 2, brings together experts from across canada to discuss all aspects of aging and long-term care.
this year’s conference, titled voices for action: rebuilding trust in elder care, is chaired by sun columnist peter mcknight and will hear from experts in a wide variety of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, law, ethics and journalism.
among others, speakers will include b.c. seniors advocate isobel mackenzie, psychiatrists david conn, carol ward and elizabeth drance, ontario’s seniors strategy expert lead samir sinha, elder law specialist krista james, social worker and author penny maccourt, ethicist francoise baylis, journalist andre picard, and applied health researcher and order of canada member carole estabrooks.
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as the title of the conference suggests, discussions will focus on how we can improve elder care, including dementia care, across canada. and with the epidemic of fear of the disease, and the stigma associated with it, such discussions, both personal and professional, are long overdue.

for more information and to register for the conference, please visit geriatricconference.providencehealthcare.org

marylou harrigan is the organizer of the west coast conference on aging.

letters to the editor should be sent to provletters@theprovince.com.  the editorial pages editor is hardip johal, who can be reached at hjohal@postmedia.com.

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