Supporting Alzheimers NZ
03 June 2022
‘A dementia friendly New Zealand’
Alzheimers NZ represents people living with dementia in New Zealand, by raising awareness of dementia, providing information and resources, advocating for high quality services, and promoting research about prevention, treatment, cure and care. Dementia can affect anyone, and as people get older, the chances of developing dementia increase. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease – which around two-thirds of people with dementia have. The symptoms each person experiences depends on the parts of the brain that are affected. However, the most common dementia symptoms include changes in memory, thinking, behaviour, personality and emotions. These changes affect a person’s ability to perform tasks and interfere with their everyday lives. Dementia is progressive, which means that for most people the changes gradually spread through the brain and lead to the symptoms getting worse.
Local Alzheimers organisations provide the following services:
- Information and education to assist with understanding and living with a dementia diagnosis
- Support for family and friends coping with the demands of caring
- Support groups and day programmes for people affected by dementia