'Attitude to dementia must change'

Healthcare providers must change their attitudes when working with people with dementia, Mario Galea, Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly and Community Care, said on Tuesday during the opening of a training programme in dementia care entitled Implementing Person-Centred Practices.

"Many people with dementia are able to live an independent life if we, healthcare providers, manage to support and educate well our caregivers. In order to be able to do this, we need to change our attitudes when working with people with dementia," Mr Galea said.

"We need to adopt a more positive approach without excluding any person with dementia irrespective of the severity of their impairment or the presence of any behavioural symptoms," he added.

The training programme in dementia care forms part of an EU funded project which is part-financed by Structural Funds and which amounts to to approximately €55,000.

The overall aim of this project is to improve the quality of dementia care in Malta by developing human resources.