With the backing of Jenny Savage and her team at the Kyabram Community and Learning Centre the group has managed to draw in members from throughout the region and last week even attracted the attention of the Dementia Australia Team Leader Liz Grogon.
She was special guest at the September meeting of the group last week, describing the group as “unique and precious’’ for the role it played with people affected by the disease.
KCLC hosts the organisation, which has become somewhat of a cafe-style meeting point for people to share stories and provide support to one another.
Mick’s early evening walk started out as nothing unusual, but as is often the case with dementia — turned into a traumatic experience which ended with police, the ambulance and a three-day stay in hospital.
It was one of the stories shared in the round-table-style format at last week’s meeting, designed to ensure people are reminded they are not on their own and co-ordinated by KCLC’s Claire Perrella.
Mick recruited friend, and former work colleague Peter Dawson to chair the meetings of the group.
Peter understands the impact of dementia, having lost his wife Ann to the disease.
He said the group aimed to create a non-threatening environment in a forum situation to assist people in accessing resources.
“We aim to help people living with dementia and their families,” Mr Dawson said.
“I worked with Mick at McColls on the tankers and he asked if I would chair the meetings to ensure that If people have something to say they were being heard.”
Mick has become a pro-active and shining example of how to live successfully with dementia, investing in his own safety with new technology, which gives him access to a support network with a single press of a button.
“I surround myself with diaries, on my phone, my computer and on a note pad,” he said.
“With dementia you can walk down the street, down the road and not have a single problem nine out of 10 times.
“Every now and then, without that back up, we are in real trouble.”
The Kyabram group has become the central point for dementia sufferers in the Goulburn Murray region, in an attempt to tackle the ongoing problem of isolation and Dementia going hand in hand.
Mick said he could not give enough credit to KCLC for what it had done.
“It is helping to point people in the right direction,” he said, of the group which has now been meeting since June — the same week as Mick’s other, more co-ordinated walk, his Walk for Dementia, which started in Kyabram and ended at parliament house in Spring St, Melbourne.
“A little bit of help goes a long way”, the Dementia Australia slogan used to promote understanding of the disease, was the major message from Ms Grogon.
“Mick can walk down the street knowing he has support,” Ms Grogon said.
“A lot of people don’t do things because they are scared of the consequences.
“We have all been in the situation where we have lost our car keys, the difference with dementia is not even knowing they are car keys.”
Two of Ms Grogon’s staff, based at Bendigo, service the Kyabram region — a counsellor and dementia support worker offering in home meetings throughout the region.
She said with more than 150 different types of dementia, receiving the correct diagnosis and treatment was always the initial stumbling block.
“We are getting better and better all the time at diagnosing the type of dementia a person if suffering from, but there is no foolproof method,” Ms Grogon said.
She said hearing the positive feedback about Kyabram-based geriatricians and the services available at Kyabram District Health Service were very encouraging.
“We don’t have all the answers, but we say it is important that you find someone who will listen to you. People in Kyabram seem to have that,” she said.
A dementia walk in Shepparton, around Lake Victoria, is likely to be held on November 6 and the group is on the lookout for a service club to help with a fundraising barbecue and to provide water-station manpower.
KCLC chief executive officer Ms Savage said the group had started off with a grant for a carers support group and found that many of those carers were looking after dementia sufferers — which inspired the dementia cafe concept.
“Mick (Simpson) brought the group together,” Ms Savage said.
“Our part in providing the community with these services is to find out where the gaps are and where the support is needed.
“We have also had great help from Kerrie Reardon and Candy Faccing from KDHS and Candy Fanning from Kyabram District Health Service.”
