Tension used to be the norm between Wang Teng-yun (王騰雲), an 87-year-old man, and his wife. It began one year ago, when he began “unwittingly” doing a number of irritating things. In one instance, he mistook a curry bar for a chunk of chocolate and swallowed it. He often denied what he had said and done.
His wife, Wang Fu Yueh-li, had no idea that her husband’s behavior was caused by an illness until he was diagnosed with early dementia in June last year.
She felt terrified because she had many friends with the disease who ended up living miserable lives at nursing homes. However, Wang Fu did not yield to the fear. Instead, she spent an enormous amount of time searching for information on the disease and found non-drug treatments offered by the Taiwan Alzheimer’s Disease Association (TADA).
One month after her husband’s diagnosis, Wang Fu took him to the School of Wisdom, organized by TADA, in which early dementia patients receive treatments such as music therapy, art therapy and other activities to help stimulate brain activity and delay brain degeneration.
Wang’s weekly attendance at the school changed his relationship with his family significantly.
“In addition to harmonica and painting lessons, more importantly, the school also gave him a boost,” Wang Fu said.
“Thanks to his pleasant experience at the school, he has become happier and changed from a silent, shy man into one who enjoys getting along with people,” she added.
Another dementia patient who benefited from the school’s non-drug treatments is an 86-year-old man surnamed Tang (唐).
Before going to the school, he often quarreled with his family when he forgot what he said and did. Most of the time, he was asleep at home. However, that changed after he started attending the school.
Tang is a Chinese chess expert and has been playing the game with elementary school children during the weekly sessions. He takes pride in helping these students polish their chess skills.
“The patient has looked brighter since attending the school,” secretary---general of TADA Tang Li-yu (湯麗玉) said. “Dementia has deprived the patients of part of their memories, but we can still try to take full advantage of what is left and use it to maintain some brain function.”
Gradually upgraded from -TADA’s support group therapies seven years ago, the school has seen about 200 people with early dementia, most of whom are in their 80s, the secretary--general said.
“As a global trend, the non-drug therapies have proven to be a success in improving patients’ quality of life and delaying their brain degeneration,” she said.
The association is also training personnel for non-drug treatments at 20 other social welfare groups and care centers around Taiwan, which will benefit more dementia patients, she said.
TADA also provides courses on how to care for the patients and seminars on different topics for families of dementia patients.
“These sessions are very useful,” Wang Fu said. “You need to know about dementia so that you can take good care of the patients.”
According to TADA, it is estimated that about 180,000 people are suffering from dementia--related illnesses in Taiwan, but only one in four have been diagnosed and given proper treatments.
“We are thus calling for closer attention to dementia with early detection and early intervention, including medication and non-drug treatments,” TADA president Chiu Ming-jang (邱銘障) said. “These are key to keep a patient’s situation under good control.”
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