Week 15: Concluding Remarks by Professor Nathan Herrmann and Student Chair Selina Chow

Professor Nathan Herrmann 

The goals of the Havergal Dementia Awareness Project included increasing the community's understanding and appreciation of the problem of dementia, reducing the stigma associated with dementia and allowing a small group of senior students the opportunity to volunteer with, and enrich the lives of people with dementia. 

While many members of the parent body are aware of the problems associated with dementia, and may even have older family members with the illness, there's no question that for many of the students, reading our blog and speaking to our student volunteers, may have been the first opportunity to learn about Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Given the aging of our society, the number of dementia sufferers is increasing dramatically, and this will lead to a huge burden on many (or most) families, as well as society as a whole. It is therefore essential that all of us are able to appreciate the signs and symptoms of the illness, and be prepared to help people with dementia to ensure their lives are healthy, safe, and as fulfilling and comfortable as possible. We all have a role to play in ensuring these goals.  

By visiting and spending time with a group of seniors with dementia, our Havergal volunteers entertained, comforted and stimulated these individuals, improving their quality of life. They tackled the stigma attached to the diagnosis of dementia by recognizing that people with dementia are no different from you and me – they have good days and bad days; they have likes and dislikes. But we all recognize that everyone with dementia has a similar need to be respected and treated with compassion. The student body can work towards spreading the word about the importance of this illness and the need to improve our understanding about the causes and treatment of dementia. The parent body can help ensure that local, provincial and federal governments are preparing appropriately to help families manage these people so that we don't become overwhelmed. Finally, fundraising for dementia research and the Alzheimer's Society, is something we can all participate in. 

It has been an absolute pleasure for me to work with the school and a fantastic group of dedicated, compassionate students over the past year. I am convinced they have accomplished the goals they set for themselves and wish them congratulations and success in their futures! Finally, I would like to thank the residents and staff at Cedarhurst Dementia Care Home for allowing us into their lives.

Selina Chow (Student Chair), Clarissa Yu, Daniela Krcmar, Katherine Ross, Olivia Nadalini, 
Dr. Erika Friesen

When we first started this Dementia Awareness Project, we were excited to embark on a meaningful journey to learn more about dementia – an illness that we did not know much about. As a group, our first step was to understand the memory loss issues those seniors face, followed by how it affects their daily lives. Before our visits to the dementia care home, we were nervous about how to interact with the residents there. We worried about things that could go wrong, asking questions such as, would they reject our visits? Would they be hostile to us? How should we respond in such circumstances? 

Nevertheless, before our volunteer work began, Dr. Herrmann gave us an overview about dementia and how to interact with someone with dementia. We continued to explore this illness further through readings and writing the weekly blog posts, under the guidance of Dr. Herrmann. As with all new endeavors, we have experienced a steep learning curve. We tried our best to apply what we had learned from Dr. Herrmann and from writing our blog to our weekly interactions with the seniors. During our visits to the dementia care home, some residents were easily approachable, while others were totally unengaged or even expressed frustration. Some would remember us from the previous week, whereas others would have no recollection of our visit. At the end of each weekly visit, we debriefed as a group about the highlights and challenges of our interactions. Every week, Dr. Herrmann has tirelessly explained to us why the residents behaved the way they did, and gave us strategies on how to deal with similar situations. We have learned more than we could have ever imagined from Dr. Herrmann, and our ability to engage with people with dementia has significantly improved. After the first few sessions, we were able to successfully engage the residents in conversation, arts and crafts, and even have a winter holiday sing-along with them! It is amazing to see how much the residents have come to enjoy our visits – a big smile appears on their faces when we arrive, and they always ask when they will see us again at the end of our visit.  

As we finish our volunteer work at the dementia care home for this year, we will miss the residents dearly and look forward to visiting them again soon. We want to thank the staff at Cedarhurst Dementia Care Home, who have supported us weekly and helped us organize all the activities we did with the residents. We also want to thank the residents and their families for allowing us to come into their lives, and trusting us with the stories and memories they hold closest to their hearts.  

While we are far from being experts in dementia, we feel comfortable and confident in dealing with seniors with dementia. We are proud to be ambassadors of this important illness to our school community. We are happy to know that we have raised awareness about dementia among our friends and family, as many of our peers have approached us at school to ask us more about dementia, share with us how they are affected by dementia, and what our work means to them. Of course, this is just the beginning and more can be done to raise awareness of and de-stigmatize dementia. 

We are very grateful to Dr. Herrmann for his unfailing support and encouragement, having mentored and guided us throughout our entire journey this year. Dr. Herrmann has been an excellent role model for us, and we truly appreciate the time he devotes to helping us despite his very busy schedule. We are very honoured to have Dr. Herrmann – an internationally renowned expert – as our mentor. Thank you, Dr. Herrmann.

Finally, we thank our readers for following our 15-week series of our Dementia Awareness Program this year. We sincerely hope that through our blog, you have been able to deepen your understanding of dementia and learn more about what the Havergal College students are doing for this important cause.  

For additional information on dementia, you can also follow Dr. Herrmann’s “Memory Doctor” blog for dementia caregivers at: http://health.sunnybrook.ca/memory-doctor/

Professor Nathan Herrmann and Selina Chow (Student Chair)

Nathan Herrmann MD FRCPC

Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

Lewar Chair in Geriatric Psychiatry

Head, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre