Rising Tide: The Impact Of Dementia On Canadian Society

Main Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Article Date: 02 Oct 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Currently, there are 500,000 Canadians living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, a number that within a generation could reach more than one million people across the country. In short, our aging population is fueling a rising tide of dementia that threatens to overwhelm our health and social systems.

This January during Alzheimer Awareness Month, the Alzheimer Society will be releasing a pivotal study Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society. This study will, for the first time since 1991, provide new startling information on the growing economic impact of dementia in Canada. It will also outline a series of potential intervention strategies that could help reduce the number of people affected by dementia, if our governments were to invest in the right solutions.

"Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are a rising concern in this country, an epidemic that has the potential to cripple the Canadian health care system if changes are not made today," says Debbie Benczkowski, Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Alzheimer Society of Canada. "The Rising Tide study is a call to action - both to our country's parliamentarians, as well as the general public - to put their minds to making change happen, while there is still time."

According to Statistics Canada, already, 4.3 million Canadians are aged 65 or older, meaning that one in seven of us are now senior citizens. By 2015, the number of seniors is expected to reach 5.4 million. As age remains the number one risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, it has been long feared that the aging of our population was going to have direct consequences on the number of people living with these illnesses.

Rising Tide studies dementia in great depth, with a view to understanding the current demographic and epidemiological profile of the disease, along with the economic consequences over the next 30 years. Based on what we already know about dementia, for example how to reduce the risk and how to support people already living with it, this study also analyzes the possible effects of certain interventions, and how they could affect the health care and economic impacts of dementia in Canada.

Measure of Hope

While Rising Tide will present some frightening statistics, we must remember that this only represents a future where no change is made. However, by investing in research and prevention, by educating and supporting our caregivers, and by raising awareness and ensuring that people are diagnosed early in the disease process, we can make a difference.

But we can't do it alone. The voice of the Society is only as strong as the number of Canadians we have supporting our call for action.

"With the release of the Rising Tide study, we will have the evidence we need to ensure our call for change is heard by governments across the country," says Benczkowski. "At the same time, it is critical that Canadians continue to champion the fight against dementia, working in partnership with our governments and encouraging them to take action."

For more information on Rising Tide, please visit http://www.alzheimer.ca.

Source
Alzheimer Society

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