Editor:
Like many families across British Columbia, our family have been doing our best to support a loved one who lives with the devastating disease of dementia.
We try our best every day to ensure our loved ones maintain the best possible quality of life. For anyone in this position, you know that this is not an easy task.
We are thrilled with the announcement made by the BC Liberal Government, as part of the BC Government Provincial Dementia Action Plan, to support individuals with dementia and their families with new resources to understand and manage the disease and to provide a better quality of life.
In truth, bringing attention to dementia was a big reason why I decided to put my name forward to be a candidate for the BC Liberals. I had tried on the Federal front to get a private member’s bill to introduce a national strategy on dementia, without any success.
I and several others had a conversation with Premier Clark this summer on dementia care as well as palliative care.
She listened and asked lots of questions and now she is to be applauded for taking action.
There will always be critics and we still have a long way to go with research and prevention, but today is a huge step in a positive direction. Next on the agenda, we need to move palliative care from being classified as respite care and changed to acute care where it belongs.
Coralee Oakes
Cariboo North Candidate for the BC Liberals