Battleford Town Council has joined a growing number of municipalities supporting the adoption of a national dementia strategy.
At Monday's regular town council meeting, a motion was passed to support a private member's bill in Parliament calling for the adoption of a national plan that would invest in a strategy, awareness and research regarding Alzheimer disease and other dementias.
Town council had received a letter from Claude Gravelle of Sudbury, Ont., Member of Parliament for Nickel Belt, that has been distributed to municipalities across the country. Already, he said, over 100 municipalities in Ontario had passed the resolution attached to the letter.
He wrote, "The figures tell-us we must act now - over 3/4 million Canadians affected, to double to 1.4 million in a generation; a cost of $33 billion to skyrocket to $293 billion by 2040."
Gravelle and his family, like many Canadians, have experienced the effect of a loved one afflicted with dementia.
"I was with my siblings an overwhelmed caregiver dealing with my mom's Alzheimer's. That is why I drafted this legislation."
Gravelle wrote, it is a non-partisan disease requiring non-partisan solutions at the federal, provincial and municipal levels.
Gravelle tabled a private member's bill in Parliament, Bill C-356, at the end of 2011. In tabling the bill, Gravelle profiled his mother Leona's story.
"Long before her death at 83 in 2003, she first started forgetting appointments and things on the stove. It deteriorated to forgetting to take medication, to language loss, and changes in mood and behaviour. We were helpless watching a mild-mannered woman at times turn aggressive and seeing part of her true self slip away. My dad also suffered, learning to sleep with one eye open."
Councillors agreed the disease can be a devastating one and any support they can give to making a difference is worthwhile.
Following is a text of the motion.
A Resolution in Support of a National Dementia Strategy:
Whereas Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are progressive, degenerative diseases of the brain that cause thinking and memory to become seriously impaired;
Whereas Alzheimer's disease and other dementias most often occur in people over the age of 65 but can strike adults at any age; and
Whereas Alzheimer's disease and other dementias affect more than 500,000 Canadians currently and that this figure is projected to reach 1.1 million within a generation; and
Whereas Alzheimer's disease and other dementias also take their toll on hundreds of thousands of families and care partners; and
Whereas an estimated further three million Canadians face the burden and challenges of providing care for those suffering with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias; and
Whereas there is no known cause or cure for this devastating illness; and
Whereas the cost related to the health care system is in the billions and only going to increase, at a time when our health care system is already facing enormous financial challenges; and
Whereas Canada, unlike many countries, does not have a national dementia strategy; and
Whereas there is an urgent need to plan and raise awareness and understanding about Alzheimer's disease and other dementias for the sake of improving the quality of life of the people it touches; and
Whereas MP Claude
Gravelle Nickel Belt has introduced Bill C-356, An Act respecting a National Strategy for Dementia, as he works for broad, all party and non partisan support for an issue that touches us all. His legislation calls for a national plan that includes the development of strategies in primary health care, in health promotion and prevention of illness, in community development, in building community capacity and care partner engagement, investments in research and other (advisory board, objectives, investment in research, and caregivers and more);
Now therefore, the Town of Battleford calls on all levels of government and the Federation of Municipalities to adopt a national dementia strategy, and urges all citizens of our communities to become more aware and engaged concerning the far-reaching effects of this devastating disease.
