by KT Leong
The Bougainvillea City Dementia Cafe held its third session shortly before Chinese New Year, thereby continuing its efforts in supporting dementia patients and their caretakers, while also slowly but surely building awareness and creating acceptance for the topic of dementia, which frankly, is still a taboo topic in our society.
In addition to providing some live background music, the Dementia Cafe also brought in Dr. Avinder Singh, a PHD candidate in Community Health with special interest in mental health, as the guest speaker for this session. His presentation was especially enlightening as he spoke in terms that were easy to understand and provided many real world examples, as his own mother also suffers from dementia.
In the clip below, he speaks about the importance of creating awareness for dementia through groups like the Bougainvillea City Dementia Cafe, so that early detection can be done, rather than waving off possible mental illness as simply “old people sickness”
In the following clip, he speaks a bit about treatment, and explains in simple terms, why it isn’t simply a matter of taking medication. For instance, someone who has high blood pressure and is taking medication to control it, still needs to change their diet and lead a more active lifestyle, in order to gain the full benefit of the medication.
This next clip is actually very interesting and readers are recommended to give it a listen. Did you know that patients with dementia tend to have diabetes, and that the recommended blood sugar levels can be different for them?
Finally, an iteration on the importance of letting dementia patients do activities that they enjoy and how we can adapt those activities for those with dementia.
A lengthy and frank Q&A was held after Dr. Avinder finished his presentation.
The Bougainvillea City Dementia Cafe is held on the third Tuesday of every month at No. 1, Jalan Lasam, 30350 Ipoh, Perak and is the brainchild of Pak Peter, whose wife also suffers from dementia. It was created by carers caring for people with dementia and for people with dementia.
Those interested should join in on these free sessions, where invited speakers speak on topics related to dementia refreshments are thrown in free.
The cafe is open to all categories of people, from those who live with dementia, to those who want to learn more about dementia for professional reasons or even 0people who suspect themselves or their loved ones as having dementia and need a listening ear.
For enquiries, email dementiacafe.ipoh@gmail.com or Whatsapp 019-5743572
