Dementia Action Week

29 August 22

Dementia Action Week 2022 is from Monday 19 September to Sunday 25 September.

This year’s theme is ‘A little support makes a big difference.

People living with dementia can live active and fulfilling lives many years after diagnosis. Despite this, they often experience discrimination that can lead to social isolation, loneliness and poor mental health. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has intensified these experiences.

In a Dementia Australia survey of more than 5,000 respondents, more than 70% of people living with dementia believed discrimination towards people with dementia is common or very common, saying, for instance, ‘people haven’t kept in touch like they used to.’

Discrimination has a big impact on people living with dementia, their families and carers; a little support from the community and health care professionals can make a big difference.

This year, Dementia Australia is encouraging communities to come together and learn more about how they can support people living with dementia and make a difference to the lives of people around them who are impacted.

Please visit dementia.org.au/dementia-action-week for more information on Dementia Action Week and how you can get involved. 

Resources and Activities

Dementia Australia conducts educational courses and events for people living with dementia, their families, carers and the public at large. These activities and programs are conducted in Sydney, Newcastle, numerous regional centres around New South Wales and the ACT as well as online for easy access nationwide.

Dementia Australia also has a series of online information and resources on dementia including help sheets, specialised education videos and much more.

For dementia information and support please call the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500 or visit dementia.org.au. 

Facts about Dementia

Dementia is the term used to describe the symptoms of a large group of neurocognitive disorders which cause a progressive decline in a person’s functioning. 

It is a broad term used to describe a loss of memory, intellect, rationality, social skills and physical functioning and is one of the largest health and social challenges facing Australia and the world.

Dementia prevalence data commissioned by Dementia Australia and undertaken by the National Centre for Economic Modelling, University of Canberra, found there are an estimated 487,500 Australians living with dementia in 2022 and around 1.6 million people involved in their care. Without a medical breakthrough, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase to almost 1.1 million by 2058.

In 2022, there are an estimated 28,800 people with younger onset dementia, expected to rise to almost 30,000 people by 2028 and more than 41,000 people by 2058. This can include people in their 30s, 40s and 50s.

Dr Mowszowski on ageing, memory and dementia 

Dr Loren Mowszowski 

The readers of Freemason are fortunate to have one of the most senior researchers in the country contribute to the magazine – Dr Loren Mowszowski, a clinical neuropsychologist, Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow, Healthy Brain Ageing Program at The University of Sydney 

Recognising the relevance of this topic to Masons and their families, W Bro Rick Atkinson recently interviewed Dr Loren Mowszowski for insights into the important research conducted by Dr Mowszowski and her team. 

One of his first questions was whether the research has uncovered any new breakthroughs in dementia prevention. 

Here is the gist of her reply: 

The game-changer from the research is we now know more about the underlying process of neuropathology happening over a much longer period before we actually see the cognitive and functional signs of dementia. This means that we can look for other signs, or ‘biomarkers’, of this process during that longer period, and then intervene to try to slow the process down. 

We also now know much more about how to intervene, in terms of various risk and protective factors for dementia and what we can do to manage this, often even from midlife. 

By the time patients present with symptoms of dementia, the decline within the brain has already been in process for around twenty years. For most patients presenting with symptoms in their sixties or seventies, the decline processes started in their forties. 

Research supports treatment by prevention, based on biomarkers: things that indicate that the early processes are happening. The huge breakthrough is a change in approach to early identification, early intervention and managing risk. 

Dr Mowszowski has arranged a further interview with the Better Brains Team at Monash University (to be published in a future edition) which will focus on risk factors, protective factors and practical tips for prevention. 

Memory 

Dr Mowszowski’s specialty is cognition and memory. The CogMax course and manual on this subject was authored by her – more on this in future articles. For now, we’ll focus on the aspect close to a mason’s heart: Memory. 

We discussed the experiences of senior masons, who say they could recite long ritual that they had learnt 30 years ago but were having real difficulty learning new ritual … ‘it just doesn’t sink in like it used to.’ 

Some highlights of the discussion include: 

• People get confused about the discrepancy between remembering long rituals but not being able to remember the name of a next-door neighbour. It is important to recognise that some degree of change in memory and thinking skills is normal with ageing; it doesn’t mean you have dementia, and we need to normalise the idea that memory declines with age. 

• As we age we might notice we’re slower to recall things or can’t think of the right word, but it might come to us later on. Decline starts in our thirties so decline is happening throughout adulthood, and by the time we’re in our sixties there is a more noticeable change – although this is within the normal scope of ageing. 

• Normal patterns are much easier to remember. Passages and rituals of 

Freemasonry requires being involved so we’re able to do rituals better than remembering random day to day tasks like remembering to pick up the milk. Rituals at heart are much better consolidated than new information, so the brain can handle familiar rituals better than one-off random tasks. 

• For example – a person may not be personally delivering the charge but being present in the ceremony, they have likely heard it before, even if they have not presented, so it is somewhat familiar. There is a memory of it even before the person is engaged to learn and recite it. This contributes to the idea of consolidated patterns; it is not completely new. 

Dr Mowszowski gave the personal example: coming from a Jewish background, being in synagogue and hearing familiar prayers and songs – this starts the process of memory or consolidation, which aids memory. 

• Rituals or ceremony are associated in the brain with importance and gravity so there is an emotional aspect and connection. There is a material meaning so the ritual and ceremony gives importance or reverence – our memory system therefore gives ritual a heavier weighting because of the meaning and emotion attached. We process meaning and emotion better than information that is immaterial like remembering the milk. 

Some tips on starting to learn Rituals 

1. Consolidate prior experiences – being present is a head start. 
2. Emotion found in the meanings and morals gives relevance and is absorbed as richer and intensive, and thus given memory priority in the brain over things like remembering to pick up some milk, so connecting meaning and story with the words helps memorise ritual better. 
3. Order and procedure further helps memory long term because there is an organised structure in the way it is presented. Our brain remembers ritual like a scaffolding, so if there is music, story, and an order to how the ritual unfolds, our memory can consolidate and deliver the ritual more easily. 
4. Repetition. Make as many opportunities as possible for the brain to process, repeat and practice – there is no substitute for repetition. 
5. Errorless learning, or learning without errors. Learn it new, always correctly – never make a mistake and just keep going – if you make a mistake, go back to the beginning and repeat it correctly so the brain doesn’t embed a mistake to memory – the brain needs to absorb it correctly from the start. Avoid making mistakes from the beginning, get the steps written in correct order. If you make a mistake – don’t press on – don’t proceed. Go back to the beginning so you’re not giving your brain a chance to learn and embed the wrong things. 
6. To make practising ritual effective, apply the concept of breaking it down (called chunking). Master section by section because it is less overwhelming for the brain. Then build up as each chunk is mastered. 
7. Space (or time) retrieval. Learn it well, then go away and see if you can recall it correctly after say 30 seconds space between learning and trying to recite. Eventually space it out to one minute, then five minutes then 10 minutes – then an hour and so on. Spacing out the period of memory retrieval, between learning and delivering, embeds the memory. 
8. Eye contact. Memory is not only being asked to recall information or words in ritual order. The other element is performing in front of other people, which can lead to performance anxiety. It is common for Freemasons to learn ritual perfectly, but then drop the ball when in public: sudden brain freeze – just can’t access that memory. 
   
   So how to unlock it? How to anticipate or prepare for brain freeze? 
   
   Practice in front of a mirror or a couple of people so when in front of a larger group it isn’t a shock and the brain doesn’t freeze when you’re being observed – it helps being able to perform on the day. 
9. Slow down. We expect a lot from our brain – slow down and give it time to process – learn well ahead and allocate time; don’t rush. Slow down, repeat, give your brain the benefit of being set up for success. 

Offer to Freemasons 

If readers have concerns about changes in their memory or thinking, or would like to know more about our research in understanding the way the brain changes as we age and how to manage this, they can get in touch via email or by phone: (02) 9114 4002. 

They can also find us on the Brain and Mind Centre’s website: https://www.sydney.edu.au/brain-mind in the Healthy Brain Ageing Clinic section.