With the end of the school holidays just a few weeks away and the country thinking about the need to continue the legacy of the Olympic games, we might be doing ourselves a big favour if we started thinking a bit harder about what goes on inside the classroom as well as on the games field (if schools are lucky enought to have one of course).
There are already 800,000 people living with dementia in the UK – and those are only the ones diagnosed, but there will be 1.7 million here with Alzheimer's by 2050. In demographic terms, this might be described as a Tsumani. Whether we like it or not, it's a growing problem for us all.
But dementia isn't a single condition and covers several forms of cognitive decline, and Alzheimer's is only one of them, so the figures for all dementia sufferers is much higher.
And despite the best efforts (if feeble budgets) of drug companies and researchers, any kind of cure is a long way off. At the research department of Kings College, one of the top centres in the country, they reckon it might be twenty years before any really effective combat drug appears on the market.
According to the ILC, there are already 5.5 million people with dementia in Europe – with more cases per year than that of stroke, diabetes or breast cancer. With an ageing population, cognitive impairment is expected to rise by over 60% in the next 30 years.
But despite the figures, few want dementia to be their problem. The Alzheimer's Society estimates that dementia care costs the country £23 billion a year and this figure will rise to £27 billion by 2018.
Not only do loved ones have to cope with the decline of the person's cognitive abilities with but little knowledge and no training, they also have to face the inevitable physical, emotional and spiritual exhaustion of round-the-clock care – and often alone, as friends fall away.
Given this challenging outlook, it wouldn't half help if everyone – of all ages – were to have their awareness of dementia raised. As I often go on about, this should start in the classroom.
Examples that might inspire us include Denmark, where universities provide lectures on dementia; Malta, where students befriend people in the community with dementia; and Portugal, where a Kindergarten and dementia day care centre in one primary school gives old and young beneficial interaction. Of course, many schools here are slowly beginning to engage with the older population in day centres, but it is very ad hoc.
So what happens here on a formal basis?
There is comparatively little information on early diagnosis or treatment; only vague future resource planning; no schemes that give younger people and families information or guidance about dementia and dementia care, nor any to bring different generations together to offer any new ideas that could help both those with the disease and their families.
Let's not forget that the demographics tell us another story about care of older people as well – that with the public purse stretched on every front, the responsibility for care will increasingly fall upon families.
To put it bluntly, this HAS to change. Dementia specialist Suzy Webster and I are busy pressing organisations, care homes schools and other educational institutions to let us to help them to deliver some beneficial and meaningful learning to children and other family members to better undestand the process of dementia and the needs of those who have it.
Caring for those with dementia does not have to be just an unremitting and exhausting journey. How we view communication is key and can make a significant, positive difference to people living with and caring for someone with dementia. If we all understand and know more, if we are empathic and compassionate, we can care better, not only for the person with dementia, but as importantly, for ourselves as well.
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