Dealing with dementia: Joy Leggo and Luba Pryslak.
By Cherie Donnellan
NEW STATISTICS showing the Geelong region has the most dementia cases in Victoria has shocked an aged care boss.
Multicultural Aged Care Services chief executive officer Joy Leggo said the statistics were “quite frightening”.
She feared the region would be unable to keep up with the demands of its ageing population.
An Alzheimer’s Australia report estimated greater Geelong would have 11,594 dementia cases by 2050.
Geelong’s municipal area had Victoria’s highest prevalence of dementia, with a reported 3462 cases.
Ms Leggo said the region’s ageing population was putting “increasing strain” on care services.
Geelong needed an aged care strategy to improve infrastructure and provide additional “packages” of assistance for people and families dealing with dementia, she said.
“(Federal) Government has gone part way to address dementia by introducing more specific services and more in-home care packages but we’re still going to need more help to keep up with what these statistics propose.”
Multicultural Aged Care Services’ Luba Pryslak said she had first-hand experience of the impact of dementia on sufferers and their families.
Her father, Peter Stawiski, was receiving assistance from a government dementia care package for daily help with tasks including dressing, bathing and socialising.
Ms Pryslak said MACS workers assisted her father several times a week but her mother remained his primary carer.
“My mum stresses a lot about having to look after my father. She has actually had several falls because she’s rushing to attend to him.
“Even though MACS workers do a great job and our family tries to help as much as we can there’s still a mentality from my mother’s generation that they must look after their spouses.”
Ms Pryslak said older people often refused help from care packages and aged care workers because they felt “uneasy” about having non-family members in their homes.
“I had to convince my parents that the care packages they get would actually make their lives easier.”
