Alzheimer’s Society of Hastings Prince Edward in the Bay View Mall on Dundas Street East in Belleville, Ontario. Photo by Sam Franks
By: Sam Franks
BELLEVILLE – Every hour more than 17 people develop dementia in Canada.
There are over 770,000 people living with dementia in Canada.
That is equivalent to everyone 65-years-old and up in Ontario.
Those are just a couple of the facts about dementia that the Alzheimer’s Society of Hasting Prince Edward wants you to know as part of Alzheimer’s Awareness Month.
The society also wants you to know that there are growing concerns around dementia research and supports while Canada’s aging population continues to rise.
“We are seeing an increase in mixed dementias, so folks living with multiple types of dementia. As well as the increase in early onset dementia, so young onset and people under the age of 65,” said Amelia Huffman of the Alzheimer’s Society of Hastings Prince Edward.
Sally’s mother was diagnosed with early onset dementia last year. Sally is not her real name. QNet News agreed to use a pseudonym to protect her identity.
“My mom has early onset dementia, so it feels like it’s a bomb counting down but we don’t know when it’ll go off,” Sally said.
Sally works as a personal support worker at a long-term care home in the Quinte region.
“It’s hard to describe. Like it’s easy for me to go to work and take care of these residents and see the reality but I still have hope for my mom,” she said.
Sally said the transition has been challenging for her father and even with her healthcare background he won’t discuss the disease.
“I feel terrible for my dad. He doesn’t know what to do. His whole routine is changing,” Sally said.
Sally says her father has kept the diagnosis a secret while they start to navigate their next steps.
“He always thought if something were to happen it would be to him not my mom. His whole routine is changing. He’s learning new methods of communication, what to expect as the dementia progresses,” Sally said.
“It’s difficult watching the family members come in to see someone who may or may not know who they are,” she said.
Sally said watching people mourn someone still alive is indescribable.
Kasi Bateman understands that feeling all too well.
She learned about her grandfather’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2016.
“It definitely gave me a new perspective on things. It was just, it was wild, seeing how quickly and drastically somebody can change with dementia,” Bateman said.
After her grandmother suddenly passed, her grandfather was given an eviction notice a week later. He moved in with the family but it quickly became clear that something wasn’t right.
Bateman and her family rallied together to try and take care of her grandfather at her childhood home.
“The person that I knew wasn’t really there anymore,” Bateman said.
She said her grandfather could be very stubborn, but also incredibly childish and playful.
“He would wake up every morning at like 4 a.m. and make himself like a fried egg on toast, and that was his thing. So when I first moved back in, he was still kind of able to do that, but then it got to a point where he kind of wasn’t anymore,” Bateman said.
Bateman said it was a difficult decision for their family to eventually have to put their loved on in a long-term care home, but was a necessary decision.
Bateman’s grandfather passed away in 2022.
Alzheimer’s was the ninth leading cause in deaths in Canada in 2022, according to Statistics Canada.
According to a study, excessive alcohol consumption, head injuries, and air pollution, lead to a higher risk of developing dementia.
No cure for dementia or Alzheimer’s has been found yet.
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