Aged Care Online

Find an aged care home for you!
Call My Care Path on 1300 197 230

Aged Care Western Australia: Understanding Dementia Between a Child and her Nana

on Thursday, November 21, 2013

As a former community care co-ordinator, Sheryl Munday witnessed first-hand the confusion experienced by those with relatives suffering from dementia. Now a village manager for Southern Cross Care in Western Australia, Sheryl has written and illustrated a children’s book Shining Brightly to help explain dementia through the eyes of a  child.

 

“I was inspired to write Shining Brightly to help client’s family members understand what was happening to their loved ones. There are limited resources that explain the condition in a way children can understand it” she said.

The book shows the relationship between a young girl and her grandmother who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Ms Munday had the opportunity to trial the book with a Year 3 class which she described as “very encouraging.”

“One student wrote ‘I like how your Nana reminds me of my Nana’” she said.

“I think it’s important for a child to be able to read about dementia, prompting discussion. This is a growing concern that needs raised awareness” said Ms Munday.

“A lot of people don’t understand what’s happening to their relatives” Ms Munday said when speaking of people who watch their relatives suffer from dementia. “I worked in Community Care for a long time and they didn’t have an understanding of it. The grown up children would be sort of… frustrated with their parent.”

Ms Munday said that when the sufferer appears physically unchanged it is more difficult for family members to understand the deterioration.

“There are a lot of resources such as Alzheimer’s Australia who are terrific, but they (the partners and adult children)  when families are new to accessing the services and they don’t know what to do, where to go or what help to get. It’s overwhelming when their parent or partner and their parents change. They may look like the same person, but they are changing.”

Even though Shining Brightly is aimed at children, it is also a resource for adults trying to understand the condition. “The rhyming text gives the story for the child, but there is additional text and tips like putting signs up around the house, and tips on how to deal with things…Such as if they repeat things” she said.

“It can be frustrating and hard but we need to see it from their perspective. They never chose to get this disease.”

Shining Brightly can be purchased from Southern Cross Care’s website.

 

Banner