On the evening of July 20th, an online Seminar entitled ‘How to Support Family Caregivers with Dementia?’ was held by Liu Jinyu, Associate Professor of the School of Social Work of Columbia University in New York, at the invitation of The School of Philosophy and Sociology of Lanzhou University.

      Hosted by Zhang Qingning,Associate Professor of School of Philosophy and Sociology, Lanzhou University, this seminar focused on the definition of Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions, the resources and pressure of family caregivers and the support of the community and neighborhood with the attendance of members of the ‘Community Supporter’, a social work service program for youth to learn and communicate, organized by the faculty and students of the School of Philosophy and Sociology of Lanzhou University and the Department of Innovative Social Work of City University of Macau.

      Dementia, as Prof. Liu explained, is an umbrella term that describes a set of symptoms caused by abnormal changes in human brain. Data showed that in the coming decades, low and middle income countries have much higher rates of dementia and less access to resources than high-income countries.

      One example of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, which is progressive with neuron loss and two major microneuropathologies. According to Prof. Liu, the typical loss of ability of Alzheimer’s disease patients represents the degeneration of memory and comprehension, the use of language, the ability of emotion and control, motor function and sensory. The course of dementia can be divided into three stages: early stage (1-5 years), middle stage (2-10 years) and late stage (1-7 years), Its risk factors mainly come from age, family history, gene and lifestyle etc.

      For family caregivers of dementia patients, heavy daily tasks, long time of care, and long-term pressure will also lead to psychological stress and physical diseases, which was embodied by a video named Please Remember Me, a documentary vividly describing the daily life of dementia patients and the pressure of caregivers.

      Prof. Liu summarized her speech with a concrete case analysis. She elaborated on ‘how to build a good community for dementia patients’ from the perspective of community familiarity, community logo, and convenient travel with safety. During discuss section,Prof. Zhang put forward a question —‘How can social workers better support dementia patients?’ In response to this question, Prof. Liu gave some suggestions in respite service, family care plan and social assistance.