We need to understand how dementia and other old age-related diseases affect working people’s lives and the provision of medical services.We need to understand how dementia and other old age-related diseases affect working people’s lives and the provision of medical services.

National health matters rarely stir the emotions of the public. With Malta having one of the fastest growing ageing populations in Europe, we are bound to face daunting social and economic challenges as our free health services try to cope with treating elderly people who become afflicted by incurable debilitating conditions. Dementia is possibly the biggest threat to the sustainability of our socioeconomic model for supporting our citizens in their old age.

We are not alone in this situation. In the UK, the Prime Minister David Cameron again committed himself that if re-elected in May, his government would make the fight against Alzheimer’s disease – perhaps the worst form of dementia – one of his top priorities.

The cynical may conclude that this is what politicians say in a pre-election campaign only to forget, after being elected, the chronic health care issues that will have a devastating effect on the lives of many people. Such lack of consistency will cripple strained public health services.

A report by the charity Alzheimer’s Research UK warns that “dementia is leaving women marginalised both as carers and later as patients”. As usual, women often have to carry the burden of caring for sick children and elderly relatives leaving them greatly disadvantaged in their pursuit of career goals and personal wellbeing. Hilary Evans, director of Alzheimer’s Research added: “Women are dying from dementia but not before it has taken a considerable toll on minds and bodies”.

This problem is not going to disappear without a political commitment to long-term healthcare reform that will make it less difficult for families to deal with the chronic debilitating ailments that will afflict older people. In the UK, dementia is now the leading cause of death in women having overtaken heart disease and strokes. As we rely more on higher participation by women in the workplace, we need to understand how the ‘epidemic’ of dementia and other old age related diseases affects working people’s lives and the provision of medical services.

This year two films nominated for the Oscar awards should create a better awareness of the devastation that Alzheimer’s disease causes for both the victims and their families: “Children often watch as their beloved parents slowly slip away from them.

As a small country we may not be able to do much to find a cure for the terrible disease of dementia and other chronic and debilitating age-related illnesses

Husbands and wives take on a caretaking role while a lifetime partner forgets their lives together. The man and woman in the wedding photo isn’t the same as the one sitting on the sofa anymore. Still Alice focuses on a brilliant linguistic professor who starts to forget simple things. Julianne Moore, who plays the leading role, has rightly been praised for her sensitive and powerful performance. This film, set in a very modern environment, shows how dementia can affect the quality of life of anyone and how family members of victims confront the realities of this illness.

Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me is another Oscar-nominated, brilliant documentary that depicts how Campbell, his wife Kim and their children cope with the onset of Glen’s dementia. Despite the optimistic way in which dementia is dealt with by this family, the director doesn’t shy away from the painful moments that anyone living with dementia has to deal with.

Hopefully, these two brilliant films will increase the awareness of the public and our political leaders on the age-related health challenges that our society is already experiencing and will experience even more intensely in the coming decades.

As a small country we may not be able to do much to find a cure for the terrible disease of dementia and other chronic and debilitating age-related illnesses. But we can certainly do more to help the victims of these diseases and their families cope with the stress of incurable, old age medical conditions.

It is indeed encouraging that an EU-funded project aimed to training St Vincent De Paul nurses, elderly and community care nurses, as well as those working with persons with disability will give a chance to our caring professionals to be better prepared to deal with the serious ailments that affect older people.

The involvement of Mcast in the training of care workers in the different aspects of dealing with the different aspects of caring for the victims of dementia is a positive initiative that needs to be followed up with a campaign to help their relatives understand the dynamics of dementia.

johncassarwhite@yahoo.com

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