Page 984 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 21 April 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
members and carers can take their loved ones out and about in our beautiful city as much as possible. That brings me to the age-friendly city plan. I do not feel that people with dementia, their families or carers have been sufficiently consulted and included in the production and creation of the age-friendly city plan. But we have the opportunity here today—a genuine opportunity—to address that.
Back in 2019, the then Minister for Seniors and Veterans, Gordon Ramsay, spoke to the tabling of the document Age-Friendly Canberra—A Vision for our City. This document aimed to discuss and outline the principles that would guide the next steps for an age-friendly Canberra. It had 12 principles under four pillars, if you like, which included: involved, connected and valued; safe, secure and free from abuse; information services and support which embrace diversity; and a city for all ages. There is not enough in this document or the more recent plan relating to dementia and dementia-friendly design. Dementia-friendly design does not have to be complicated. It does not have to be expensive, although at times it might be. As with most design work, building it in at the outset is usually cheaper than having to retrofit something.
Just last week I went to the National Press Club to hear an address by Professor Graeme Samuel, the chairperson of Dementia Australia. He talked about the significance of simple changes to improve the experience for people with dementia. For example, depth perception is something that people with dementia often have an issue with. Something as simple as changing the pattern on the carpet can help people living with dementia to not feel like they are about to walk into a hole in the carpet. It could be more about lighting. Patterned carpet, apart from having a depth perception issue—dark coloured carpet especially—can also give rise to hallucinations in people with dementia. It is very real for them that they see spiders, insects, snakes or holes in patterned carpet. This is an example where it might not cost much to have dementia-friendly design, because if you are going to carpet anyway, it is only a matter of choosing the best type of carpet.
Coloured lighting on ramps is another issue, or painted steps, that might improve visibility. Recently I had a constituent contact me about an issue in CMAG, just across the square from us; they pointed out their difficulty in taking one of their loved ones who is living with dementia. One of the ramps that was painted in a very dark colour made their loved one with dementia extremely afraid and agitated because of the depth perception issue.
These are the types of things that I would like to see addressed so that people living with dementia in our community can continue to go out and about and enjoy things. They enjoy visits to the park and a plant nursery. They enjoy going to a coffee shop, a gallery or museum. Some small things that we can do will improve their experience enormously, as opposed to making them fearful, upset and possibly angry.
Another example that was given to me is about dementia training for some of our front-line staff. I can give you two examples of this: one a good example, and one a not so good example. One constituent living with dementia uses the bus quite a bit. On good days this is no issue. She goes to visit her family member. She is quite familiar with the route to get to the family member’s house. One day she became quite agitated and concerned that the bus was going the wrong way. The bus driver
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video