Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia Feels Public Perception Is Changing

L'ARDOISE - In this episode of Tell 24/7, reporter Adam Cooke speaks with two officials of two organizations that are involved in providing service delivery to Alzheimer patients and their partners in Nova Scotia, just as Alzheimer Awareness Month wraps up for another year. Both interviewees feel that a changing public perception of the condition is helping with their efforts to reach out to those who struggle with it in communities of every size. 

Adam Cooke hosts a bilingual panel discussion with Kirstie Creighton, Manager of Education and Belonging for the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia (ASNS) and Catherine Shepherd, who is a Cape Breton-based ASNS Community Coordinator and Provincial Lead for the society's FirstLink program

"We are seeing younger and younger people - in their forties, in their fifties - who are receiving diagnoses of Alzheimer's Disease," Creighton pointed out. "So we're trying to change the concept of who can get this disease, and we're also trying to change how it is perceived in the community." 

This week's episode of TELILE 24/7 also featured interviews with the program director for the Cape Breton South: Recruiting For Health (CBS: RFH) committee, Gina MacDonald, and Richmond MLA Trevor Boudreau about provincial funding recently made available to CBS:RFH and similar organizations to help promote their efforts to recruit healthcare professionals to serve in Nova Scotia's smaller communities. 

CBS:RFS, which includes representatives of the Counties of Richmond and Inverness and the Town of Port Hawkesbury as well as community partners, will receive a total of $74,287 for promotional campaigns and community events, such as outreach to local residents enrolled in the Dalhousie University family medicine residency program, newcomer socials and recognition events.