CORNWALL, Ontario – Nearly four out of every 10 people in Cornwall is grappling with a dementia diagnosis, or is caring from someone with the affliction.
Representatives of the local Alzheimer’s Society of Canada office expressed concern with the numbers at a city council meeting Monday night, and implored city hall to do whatever it can to make Cornwall a dementia-friendly community.
“One of the things people with dementia tell us is they are not out front telling people they have it,” said Alzheimer’s Society executive director Shelley Vaillancourt. “Because then people see them by the diagnosis they have.
“People see dementia first.”
City council agreed to request a report from administration on the ins and outs of becoming officially known as a so-called dementia-friendly community.
Vaillancourt said within SD and G and Prescott-Russell as many as 3,500 people have been diagnosed with dementia, be it full-blown Alzheimer’s or other similar conditions.
One of the ways a person can educate themselves on dementia, and be counted as a dementia friend is to visit www.dementiafriends.ca and watch a short video while also registering as a person who has educated themselves on the condition.
The Alzheimer’s Society would like to see 7,000 Cornwall and area residents registered on the site, which will help this region become known as a dementia-friendly community.
