A landmark new study from the Alzheimer Society of Canada says 1.7 million Canadians will have dementia by 2050, three times the number of cases in 2020.
Manitoba is expected to follow a similar trend, with cases forecast to jump from the current 18,400 to 39,100 at the same time.
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The Government of Manitoba is adding support from the Alzheimer Society for those living with dementia
Wendy Schettler, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba, said the data is not surprising.
“We did a study a couple of years ago and two-thirds of Manitobans already identified that they had a close friend or family member affected by dementia,” he said. “And so, we are already more affected than not.”
According to the study, an increase in cases will not only affect family members and caregivers of people with dementia, but Canada’s health care system will also have an impact.
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“We’ve seen that it’s not ready to support people now, let alone when you’re looking at this kind of increase in numbers, and so we need more investment in our health system. We need more investment in home care, in care long-term, in our supports for families caring for people with dementia. We need more investment in building dementia-friendly communities. There is so much we still need to do,” Schettler said.
Jan Legeros, executive director of the Long Term & Continuing Care Association of Manitoba, said the need for more care spaces was identified 10 years ago.
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“There was a report made in 2012 by the Health Policy Center where they projected that we would need between five and 6,000 more healthcare places.”
Legeros said Manitoba currently has 10,000 beds, but that won’t be enough to meet the growing demand. He added that more beds are not enough; different care models are also needed.
“People with dementia do much, much better in environments where they have more elbow room, if you will, than in a personal care home, and so over time, personal care homes have been implementing what we call special needs environments. ,” she said.
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“They can make a decision about when to eat breakfast, when to bathe, that kind of thing. So it’s not as regulated as it needs to be in a smaller space, like a personal care home.”
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Schettler said the government has a role to play in supporting people with Alzheimer’s, but there are some things people can do to reduce their risk.
“What’s good for your heart is good for your brain. So exercise, don’t smoke, take care of other health risks, control your weight, reduce alcohol consumption, stay active and engaged with the world. So social connection is very, very important. We have learned more and more about how important sleep is. We’ve also learned that it’s really important to make sure you listen well and so take care of those pieces, protect your head.”
Schettler said risk-reduction methods may not completely prevent dementia, but they can delay symptoms for several years.
4:37 Promising Alzheimer’s research at St. Boniface Hospital Promising Alzheimer’s research at St. Boniface Hospital – August 25, 2022
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