It can be difficult for individuals and families affected by dementia to ask for help.
“But when you get help early, it is less likely there is going to be a crisis situation down the road,” says Karen Waldal of the West Kootenay regional Alzheimer Society. “And it is difficult for people to operate out of crisis.”
That’s where the society’s First Link program comes in. It’s a crisis preventer.
The program educates doctors about dementia and asks them to alert the Alzheimer Society as soon as they make a diagnosis (with the consent of the diagnosed person or a family caregiver).
Then the society reaches out to the diagnosed person or, more often, the caregiver.
“The sooner we are contacted by the doctor the sooner we reach out,” Waldal says.
“The diagnosis tends to be overwhelming for most people, and the reaction tends to be quite fearful, especially if you don’t understand or you have a degree of ignorance about it. So people often think I don’t want to be a burden on my family, and they get so focused on that, there is a hesitant to reach out to support.”
If the person or family say they are not ready to be contacted yet, the society calls them again in a few months.
“We tell them we have received this referral. How are you doing? Do you need some information?”
She says the sooner a person with dementia gets information and help, the easier it is for them to have a say in how the disease will be handled down the road.
It also means they can deal with such things as their will and their power of attorney while they are still capable of it.
“Starting soon allows the individual to have more participation while they are still able to. So whatever decisions they are capable of contributing to and making, they can still be the ones painting that picture of what they want (their future) to look like.”
Waldal says a study has shown that the First Link program results in people getting help 11 months earlier than they otherwise would.