A SERIES of free seminars of understanding dementia will be held across Western Australia this September.
Not-for-profit aged care and retirement living provider Bethanie is holding the events as part of Dementia Awareness Month.
The “A Time to Live” seminars will be held across WA, from Port Kennedy to Geraldton.
Bethanie dementia consultant Michelle Harris will facilitate all seminars and said the public forums are vital in raising awareness about dementia.
“A Time to Live is about promoting awareness that dementia is a unique experience and that everybody is different. Dementia causes a change in the pathology of the brain and this is unique for each person because we all have our own DNA, culture and life experience,” Ms Harris said.
“It’s about understanding dementia, knowing what support is available and looking at it through a different lens so that we can give people hope.
“At Bethanie, we believe there is a life to live, and living with dementia is a time to live.”
Also in September, Bethanie Fields aged care facility in Eaton is launching a new dementia-specific model called The Front Door Project.
The 32 residents within the dementia secure wing will each have a personalized motif stuck to their bedroom door.
In a bid to make it more dementia-friendly, each door will be personalized with the resident and family members choosing a door motif that may be similar to a house they lived in while growing up.
“Not only will it assist with orientation but it will also replace the clinical atmosphere to make it a more homely environment,” said Ms Harris.
Bookings phone 131-151, www.bethanie.com.au
