Almost one-third of Australians say they find it frightening dealing with people suffering from dementia.
The results were revealed in a survey by Dementia Australia.
CEO Maree McCabe says she is alarmed by the revelation that 32 per cent of Australians find people living with dementia frightening – up from 23 per cent 10 years ago.
She says such attitudes hamper efforts to treat dementia and integrate sufferers back into the community, ultimately delaying possible improvement.
“These are devastating findings,” she says. “This fear leads to stigma and discrimination, which can have a real and distressing impact on people living with dementia, their families and carers.
“People may avoid seeking critical medical and social support and become increasingly socially isolated.
“Dementia is a largely invisible disease and what we can’t see, we don’t understand, and what we don’t understand, we are often afraid of and then avoid.”
Ms McCabe says there is also research that shows about 80 per cent of those with a loved one living with dementia felt that people in shops, cafes and restaurants treated people with dementia differently.
“These are our parents, grandparents, friends and neighbours now and in the future; it could be anyone reading this who might be diagnosed with dementia.”
Dementia Australia is calling for urgent action from councils, businesses, community groups and leaders to “take decisive action and be the change that makes their communities more dementia friendly”.
Making a community ‘dementia friendly’ will look different everywhere, but in general Dementia Australia says these are places where people living with dementia are supported to live a high-quality life with meaning purpose and value.
That may include local businesses providing accessible services for people living with dementia via trained staff, employers providing support for affected people to continue paid employment, and volunteering opportunities for people with dementia.
It could also include opportunities for dementia sufferers to remain socially active through choirs, walking groups and sporting clubs.
Dementia is the second-most common cause of death among over-65s. There are about 400,000 Australians living with dementia, and around 70 per cent of these cases live in the community.
When combined with their family members and carers, it’s not unreasonable to think there could be a million people daily dealing with negative attitudes.
Do you know someone living with dementia in the community? Does interaction bother you? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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