Let’s Think About Life with Dementia #1 Relay for Hope International Forum

In February 2025, I had an opportunity to attend “People with Dementia Across the World Passing the Baton -- Relay for Hope International Forum 2025” in Tokyo, where Ms. Kate Swaffer gave a lecture. Ms. Swaffer, from Australia, was diagnosed with early-onset dementia when she was only 49 years old.

Her doctor told her to quit her job and prepare for the future because she would no longer be able to do anything. But since the diagnosis, Ms. Swaffer has started advocacy activities by people with dementia, given lectures as a person with dementia at places like the United Nations and the World Health Organization, and been continuing research work in a doctoral program.

As her example shows, as soon as people are diagnosed with dementia, they are often assumed to be no longer capable of anything and cut off from society. She calls it Prescribed Disengagement©, which can take their potential away. To prevent that from happening, we should pay attention to protection of the “rights” we take for granted.

Ms. Swaffer also talked about reablement, a key theme we have worked on at the ILC team. Reablement is a collaborative approach, leveraging what the person can do by encouraging them through dialogue. While the traditional support focuses on supplementing lost abilities, reablement aims to value the life the person has had, increase what they can do, and enable them to have a role in society.

Instead of being recipients of support, people with dementia can stay connected to society as its members. It is therefore critical that society as a whole expand support to help them keep using their abilities and resources. Her lecture was a valuable reminder of this important lesson.

Encouraged by her words “Once you choose hope, anything is possible,” I would like to keep exploring how we can, and I can, help create society where people can choose hope.

* Handouts and videos of the forum are available on the following Dementia Care Information Network website. Some include English information, which you may find interesting.

Forum information main page (in Japanese, with links to reference materials and videos): https://suishinin.jp/suishinin/suishinin_event/event_No6-2.php

Information in English:

l Forum handout (Power Point slides are available in both Japanese and English): https://www.dcnet.gr.jp/pdf/kensyu/r7_suishinin/r7_suishinin_relay_handouts.pdf

l Forum videos (consecutive interpretation is available for Ms. Swaffer’s parts)

o Ms. Swaffer’s lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGSmyxzCKYs&feature=youtu.be

o Discussion with Ms. Swaffer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQiZa1czZoQ&feature=youtu.be

Taeko Nakashima

Faculty of Health Management　

Department of Social Health and Business Management

Nihon Fukushi University

https://www.nfu.ne.jp/

このブログの人気の投稿

Cutting-edge Daily Life of Elderly #8 "Longevity Savings"

The other day, I was shocked to find a name in the obituary posted on the community bulletin board: It was a former classmate of mine in junior high school. It’s got to be some kind of mistake. To double-check, I hurriedly contacted a friend of mine who had gone to the same high school as him. It really was him, the president of the student association back then. He had died of illness. I hadn’t seen him for over 40 years since graduation, and we weren’t particularly close friends. But I can still remember him, a nice guy always with a smile on his face. This experience has made me realize, well, I’m old enough to experience death of my classmates. In an episode of a TV drama now on air, the main character’s mother was doing “Nagaiki Chokin,” or longevity savings. The mother was a big fan of Rokusuke Ei, a popular actor and writer who had suggested in one of his books that older people could pool money and save it together. Inspired by this idea, the mother did j...

Let’s Think About Life with Dementia #3　 “I live alone, but I’m not alone”―A Critical Role of Visiting Nurses

Many older people like to continue their own way of living even when they live alone with dementia. The key to making it happen, I have always felt, is how supporters can value these older people’s wisdom, which they have built over the years, and their wishes to remain who they are. In March 2025, the Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Medical Center published the guidebook titled “Supporting Independence of Older People Living Alone with Dementia: Practice Guide fo r Visiting Nurses.” This guidebook provides a useful checklist and practical tips for visiting nurses who support older people living alone with dementia. I had an opportunity to be part of this research as a committee member. The checklist was developed based on detailed interviews with visiting nurses, who had extensive experience in supporting older people living alone with dementia, as well as opinions of experts in this area. It summarizes attitudes, perspectives, and support methods emphasized on the front...

Cutting-edge Daily Life of Elderly #10 Finding Fireflies… and Passion

Many younger seniors stay active by playing various roles. But as they grow older, they tend to gradually stop engaging in activities. According to a survey by the Cabinet Office, the most common reason for not wanting to participate in social activities among men aged 80+ was “I’m not confident in my health and stamina” (45.5%), followed by “I have no friends to participate with” (22.7%) and “I find socializing tiring” (19.7%) * . As a person and his friends grow older, they may be losing confidence, facing the fact that they can no longer move around as they used to, both physically and mentally. My father used to keep himself busy even after retirement, serving as president of a facility for people with disabilities, local welfare commissioner, officer of the neighborhood association and a senior citizens club, and many more. He had also traveled several times a year, such as shareholders’ trips and visits to a friend in a different prefecture. But since my mother st...

ILC-Japan

このブログを検索