Dementia Action Alliance Calls for Change in Status Quo

DEMENTIA ACTION ALLIANCE CALLS FOR CHANGE IN STATUS QUO --- Link to the White Paper: https://daanow.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Living_Fully_With_Dementia_White-Paper.pdf

Press Release  3-8-16  Contact Jackie Pinkowitz: [email protected]

The Dementia Action Alliance (DAA) released an important white paper today. “Living with Dementia: Changing the Status Quo” is a national wake-up call to draw attention to two serious societal issues impeding the well-being of people living with dementia. Due to societal misperceptions and stigma about dementia, people living with the condition are often marginalized and diminished.  Additionally, the traditional medical system, oriented to physical health, tends to dehumanize and objectify them as symptoms rather than as people trying to live as well as possible with a chronic health condition.

“We must change the status quo. Being marginalized and objectified is a huge, silent human rights issue affecting more than 5 million Americans living with dementia in the U.S.” states Alexander “Sandy” Halperin, who is living with dementia and will be the recipient of the 2016 William Proxmire Alzheimer’s Advocacy Award later this month.

Al Power, MD, an internationally known geriatrician and author of Dementia Beyond Disease notes that “Perceiving dementia as a disability (or changing ability) rather than a fatal disease changes the traditional biomedical view and encourages strength-based approaches to support well-being so people can live as fully as possible.”

The paper represents the collective perspectives of over 30 diverse stakeholders including individuals living with dementia.  The consensus opinions expressed in the paper are intended for a broad audience including policymakers, healthcare practitioners, long-term services and support providers and researchers among others. DAA Executive Director and lead author, Karen Love, notes “The issues addressed in the paper are experienced by people living with dementia globally.  With focus and commitment, we can change the status quo in the U.S. and set a world example.”

Christopher Laxton, Executive Director of AMDA and a member of the DAA’s Leadership Team, added: “I applaud this paper as an important call-to-action to improve person-centered care for those living with dementia. I appreciate the authors reinforcing that adopting holistic, person-centered practices is a needed expansion, and not a rejection, of traditional medical approaches.”

Recommendations include uniting organizations to develop a consensus master national plan and agenda to eliminate dehumanizing and discriminatory attitudes, behaviors and practices, while changing the mindset of the traditional healthcare system.

"This paper is absolutely illuminating. It sheds a new light on dementia by moving beyond the limitations of the current biomedical model into the realm of better approaches offered by the bio-psycho-social-spiritual model. The status quo must be changed in order to meet the needs of individuals living with dementia and those who support them" states Chris Perna, CEO of The Eden Alternative and a member of the DAA’s Leadership Team.

The Dementia Action Alliance is a national coalition of people and organizations dedicated to changing our nation’s understanding of and attitudes about dementia by serving as a trusted source for conversations, advocacy and education.

Link to the White Paper: https://daanow.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Living_Fully_With_Dementia_White-Paper.pdf