Triple Jeopardy – Women with Dementia
In this new video, And Then I Looked Up Dementia – Women Speak Out, the Global Alzheimer’s Dementia Action Alliance offers a powerful testament of women who live with dementia.
Worldwide, caregivers and people with dementia are speaking out including the leaders of Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) and Dementia Alliance International (DAI).
UK-based CEO of ADI, Paola Barbarino says, “All the women affected by dementia are exposed to what has been termed a triple jeopardy. They are discriminated against as a result of their AGE, of their GENDER, and of their CONDITION.”
“And then I looked up Dementia” yields demeaning synonyms in the dictionary for mental illness including insanity, derangement, lunacy and madness… and Alzheimer’s disease.
How can we reduce the stigma of living with or caring for one with dementia when our dictionaries still refer to insanity and madness?
What is particularly striking is the comment by the Nigerian-based representative of Rossetti Care, Kiki Edwards. [TCV Update 4/22/2021 URL no longer operational]
In Nigeria, due to the stigma, nobody really wants to talk about dementia. Everybody hides their person who has dementia… because there’s still the belief that it’s predominately hereditary… they see that as witchcraft or madness…
Imagine living in conditions that we in the U.S. experienced up through the 1960s. Due to our lack of understanding, people were admitted to “mental institutions” and “sanitariums,” formerly referred to as “insane asylums.”
Australian, Kate Swaffer, who lives with Alzheimer’s, the leading cause of dementia, serves as CEO of DAI. She says, “Dementia… has given me more courage than I ever had before.” Ironically, despite people with dementia seen with cloudy minds, Kate’s next comment sheds light on the unique experience each person has. During a speech, she says, “It’s given me clarity about life that was previously missing.”
According to the World Health Organization, dementia is one of the top 10 causes of death for women worldwide.
‘And Then I Looked Up Dementia… Women Speak Out’
Click below to view the video.
For more information and to help shape gender-based global policies on dementia, please visit the Global Alzheimer’s and Dementia Action Alliance [6/28/2021 URL updated]
