Nearly 3 in 4 people with dementia in S’pore feel ashamed, rejected: Study

According to an extensive survey by SMU in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Disease Association, 3 in 4 patients felt lonely and rejected and about 56% of respondents felt people treated those with dementia as less competent.  Nearly 30% of caregivers felt embarrassed while caring for their loved ones with dementia in public. Created by and code-named Remember.For.Me. by Rosie Ching, Senior Lecturer of Statistics at SMU School of Economics, the survey is a first-of-its-kind and Singapore-wide study that draws a picture of Singapore’s attitudes and awareness towards Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Ms Ching and her 99 statistics students covered more than 5,600 people in 5 weeks from January and carried out statistical analysis of the dementia landscape in Singapore. SMU Vice Provost Professor Lim Kian Guan said, “We hope our statistical findings will spur Singaporeans to learn more about what can be done to improve the lives of those living with dementia, as well as that of caregivers.”