Dementia Treatment and Healing Initiative Holds Event to Make Sarasota County a "Dementia Care Community" | Community

SARASOTA, FL (WWSB) – Increasing numbers of people with dementia in Suncoast have dementia. lack of education on how to properly treat a person with dementia.

The Dementia Care and Treatment Initiative is partnering with several local organizations to organize an event to make Sarasota a "community of dementia care".

Their goal is to educate the community on how to be sensitive, courteous, and understanding a person with dementia on a daily basis.

"My mother has dementia, she has a diagnosis of Alzheimer's," said Michael Juceum. 19659002] He is well aware of the struggle to love someone with dementia.

"The cruel thing about Alzheimer's disease is that it deprives the essence of the person and leaves it to the shell," says Juceum. to complete their daily activities.

"Dementia does not just mean a loss of memory," said Juceum. "It means the loss of the ability to reason, and often when you're dealing with a person with dementia, you have to meet her where she is and that's really the essential piece."

Juceum said that it means you do not argue with them or say things like, "I told you so already."

These are two examples that show why the Department of State Alumni Affairs stated that there was a tremendous need for community-level education in this area.

"Florida has the second highest incidence rate of Alzheimer's disease in the country". said Christine Didion, from the Department of Seniors' Affairs.

There are approximately 540,000 people with the disease in our state, including 20,000 in Sarasota County. The organizers of the event said that it was very important for the grocery store. Shop clerks, bus operators and other stakeholders should keep in mind the following:

"Be a little more patient when you wait for someone to answer a question you might be asking" said Didion. "Or maybe you have to repeat a question many times, more than usual, more than you would expect."

This may also mean a slight reminder that they have not yet paid for their food, or that they have also given a lot of money for their ticket.

For more information on dementia and the initiative launched by the Florida Department of Seniors' Affairs, click here.