As people enter the golden years of their lives, there tends to be more time for leisure, family, and relaxation. To get the most out of this special season of life, brain health is important. Winkler Senior Centre is hosting an event that will educate community members on monitoring brain health in themselves and in aging loved ones.
Cathleen Bergen, the services for seniors resource coordinator at the Winkler Senior Centre, and Rebecca Atkinson from the Alzheimer's Society of Manitoba are centering their brain health message on “the three Ds”: delirium, depression, and dementia.
“We love our brains and we want to keep [them] healthy and prevent some of these things, and if we're struggling with [them], we want to care for it in the best way possible,” says Atkinson. “We need to do that through knowing the difference between delirium, depression and dementia.”
On August 21st, Winkler Senior Centre will host an information session open to anyone, from citizens who would like to monitor their own mental health to family members and/or caretakers of aging relatives.
“One important part [of the session] . . . is delirium,” says Atkinson. “Whether you have dementia or are a care partner, it's important to notice drastic changes that happen kind of out of the blue. Dementia is progressive, and so you start to see more and different behaviours that weren't there before, and that's normal part of the disease, but if something changes sooner than you think it should, . . . that's called delirium, and we’re going to get into that on that information session.”
Atkinson adds that delirium is a medical emergency.
“We need to look at it because it's the body's way of expressing a problem, like a fever and infection, but it doesn’t present like a fever or infection,” she says.
The information session will also address conditions that are growing in Canada’s senior population — depression, anxiety, and mood disorders. These mental and emotional struggles increase the risk of developing dementia.
“We were just looking at [the] 2017 and 2018 stats of Canada, and 10.5% of seniors have mood and anxiety disorders,” says Atkinson. “After COVID-19, that's gone through the roof. I don't have an accurate number, but we're all struggling to find healthy ways of living and decreasing our risk factors for . . . dementia.”
Atkinson says that one of the ways of reducing one’s risk is to take care of the heart.
“We need a good diet,” she says. “Heart and Stroke Foundation has driven that science and that evidence. If you need to know about how to take care of your heart, [get information] there. It's all going to reflect in our brains as well — it's all connected. We have . . . years of science behind how to live well and be well, and now we're just recognizing, ‘oh, [taking care of the heart] is good for our brains too. It's an organ too.’”
Atkinson says that the Alzheimer’s Society of Manitoba is also a powerful resource to anyone in the community who would like to learn more or find support.
"[The society] is here to educate small groups, large groups. We're here to direct counsel [for] individuals, families, small groups. We run support groups where you yourselves can share . . . experiences and resiliencies,” she says. “[You can] share in the grief and the losses that are happening around this. [We also] connect with the community, like Cathleen at the Winkler Senior Center. This is a staple relationship of seniors [that] are coming in to have fun and leisure as well as hopefully catching problems before they get too big.”
For Atkinson, becoming educated on dementia, delirium, and depression is an empowering tool.
“[We should educate ourselves] so that we can all live our best life,” she says. “We want people to have the best care in whatever they're going through and their best mission, like their self-care or care from others.”
Atkinson hopes that the upcoming session will encourage everyone to take an honest look at their mental wellness and that of those around them.
“I hope that everyone's hearts and minds will be working, [thinking], ‘does this fit me? Does this fit my grandmother? Does it fit my uncle or my brother? What's my mental health like? What does it look like for me in my daily life? Am I stressed? Do I find joy? Do I have some meaning?’”
The information session will take place at the Winkler Senior Centre on Wednesday, August 21st at 2 p.m. Anyone interested in registering can email Bergen at cathleen@winklerseniorcentre.com, call the senior centre at 204-325-8964, or visit Winkler Senior Centre’s website here.
For those looking for ways to get the enrichment and engagement that promotes mental wellness, the senior centre itself has other events coming up this month that can help. Bergen invites the community to come out on August 28th at 1:30 p.m.
“We'll be winding up our intergenerational nature discovery sessions with a presentation at the senior centre,” says Bergen. “[The presentation will include] prairie wildlife past and present, which is a surprising look at the past diversity of animals and habitats found in Southern Manitoba and what remains today.”
Then on August 29th at 5 p.m., there will be a fundraising barbecue for the centre’s operational funds by donation. Homemade burgers, baked beans, coleslaw, and ice cream will be served. Bergen says that information will be available at the barbecue about the autumn programs at the centre.
Ultimately, whether one attends the information session or the other events at the Winkler Senior Centre, it is a place of community that promotes wellness through various channels, including through strengthening knowledge and providing a positive social environment to be a part of.
~With files from Ty Hildebrand~