That's very difficult Catherine. I think people are very scared of Alzheimer's and don't want to face the early stages head-on so they can perhaps make their lives a bit easier, make allowances, make sure their friends & family know, and arrange good care for the future.
If they see celebrities who face these things, it helps I think. Terry Pratchett, the writer, may have given some help to many people, when he was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer's.and publicised himself and did interviews.
Oddly enough I wonder if many people would be more willing to accept help from a service dog than a human!? But of course that would be hard with someone with that form of dementia as they may become unable to care for the dog.
However I noticed that my mother (who had dementia very badly) seemed to become far more lucid when Misty was around. I certainly do think that service dogs, or well trained dogs in general, are a great idea as visitors to hospices, care homes and some hospitals. Even some animal lovers with bad Alzheimer's can relate to a dog being around and it makes their day.
With my mother, the early stages were hard to catch. She could break any code! She had such a good brain. She would solve puzzles and codes that made me dizzy to even look at -in minutes. Then one day after my aunt had visited, my mother suddenly said, "Who is that woman?" I thought she was joking.
When I told her "Don't be silly! That's your sister!", she denied having a sister. I still thought she was joking, as she was doing the Times crossword at that moment. (and did that in about 10 minutes!)
So it seemed to happen so suddenly with her. We wondered if she'd had a mild stroke, but no. And later, dementia was diagnosed.
It would have been useful to have your abilities Catherine, at that time.
If they see celebrities who face these things, it helps I think. Terry Pratchett, the writer, may have given some help to many people, when he was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer's.and publicised himself and did interviews.
Oddly enough I wonder if many people would be more willing to accept help from a service dog than a human!? But of course that would be hard with someone with that form of dementia as they may become unable to care for the dog.
However I noticed that my mother (who had dementia very badly) seemed to become far more lucid when Misty was around. I certainly do think that service dogs, or well trained dogs in general, are a great idea as visitors to hospices, care homes and some hospitals. Even some animal lovers with bad Alzheimer's can relate to a dog being around and it makes their day.
With my mother, the early stages were hard to catch. She could break any code! She had such a good brain. She would solve puzzles and codes that made me dizzy to even look at -in minutes. Then one day after my aunt had visited, my mother suddenly said, "Who is that woman?" I thought she was joking.
When I told her "Don't be silly! That's your sister!", she denied having a sister. I still thought she was joking, as she was doing the Times crossword at that moment. (and did that in about 10 minutes!)
So it seemed to happen so suddenly with her. We wondered if she'd had a mild stroke, but no. And later, dementia was diagnosed.
It would have been useful to have your abilities Catherine, at that time.
