st weekender febrai 196 ki3 i health joanne cameron raises awareness of alzheimers by bruce stapley correspondent joanne cameron believes in the right to the best possible quality of life for those living out the final chapter of their lives with alzheimers dis ease shes also committed to assisting those who provide care for vic tims of the degenerative brain condition which usually affects seniors but can claim people in their 40s and 50s as well cameron a stouffville area resident was named president of the alzheimer society of york region last fall after serving the previous year on the societys board a career nurse with a strong background in seniors care giver relief she has approached the volunteer position with a passion this is so challenging said cameron a mother of four who recently celebrated the arrival of her first grandchild 1 find myself putting in around 30 hours a week its using all the potential i have much of the challenge lies in staying abreast of current shifts in health care funding as well as tuning into the requirements of an aging popu lation its demanding because there are a lot of changes going on in the health field today and as you get older your needs get more complex there are a lot of quality of life studies coming to the fore regarding alzheimer patients she points to innovative programs such as one giving male alzheimer patients a chance to tinker with old model automobiles helping them recall their past cameron was on hand for the grand opening of the societys alzheimer resource centre at newmarkets greenacres nursing home recently the centre has made available resources for care givers and profession al people looking to learn more about the sometimes misunderstood dis ease we needed to put the books and videos we have in the hands of people throughout the community said cameron among the resources available is a book entitled forget me not aimed at grandchildren liv ing with an alzheimer patient another entitled through our eyes a caregivers guide to the alzheimer universe is a recent work by sue hart the director of the societys day centre the day centre located in thornhill offers a daily program for upwards of 25 alzheimer clients it is designed to enrich the clients lives while providing a much needed break for care givers those in attendance engage in activities and are assigned tasks such as prepar ing crafts and baked goods for the centres annual fundraising sale mondays opening also saw the ontario ministry of health commit 180000 for a second day centre the centre which is to open this spring will be located in the auroranewmarket area and will serve the area north of elgin mills rd but while the centre is funded with provincial money the society is completely dependent upon community support in all other areas it is currently in the midst of a membership drive in an attempt to attract committed volunteers to assist with alzheimer patients and their care givers cameron said there are many people out there who are ideally suited to the task people have a willingness to be helpful in areas regarding seniors sometimes its just a matter of talking to people regarding the needs of these people after all we all have parents i find when i talk to people first hand they seldom turn me down she pointed to stouffville retail merchant sandra stronach as an example of that willingness when i approached sandra about helping us with our first ever cof fee break fundraiser last fall she said yes right away even though she doesnt have a loved one afflicted with alzheimer disease she was ter rific the fund raiser brought in a total of 5500 which was among the top five totals cf the 38 societies province- wide cameron believes its vital to acknowledge past achievements of alzheimer patients as the disease progresses this end piece of their lives isnt what we would choose for anybody but its not like the tragedy of a child dying you must look broadly at the overall success of their lives and revisit 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