对这种疾病的污名阻碍了华裔澳大利亚人寻求早期诊断和支持。 悉尼大学的研究人员正在与华人社区合作，以改变这种情况。 一个研究小组正在通过发起一个项目来打破社会对痴呆症的污名、羞耻和误解，鼓励澳大利亚华人识别痴呆症症状并寻求早期诊断。 统计数据显示，超过40万澳大利亚人患有痴呆症，悉尼西部有1.2万人患有痴呆症。 大约一半的痴呆症患者仍未得到诊断。 “面对痴呆症”中文活动正在悉尼西部发起，旨在提供免费的在线和面对面的资源，帮助社区与家人就痴呆症相关问题展开对话，并要求他们的家庭医生进行评估。 患有痴呆症的华裔澳大利亚人往往不愿意寻求支持，因为他们害怕被污名化和常见的误解。 悉尼大学老龄与健康教授李费洛说：“我们知道，包括华裔澳大利亚人在内，来自不同文化背景的人会延迟寻求痴呆症症状的帮助。”。 “我们对澳大利亚华人社区的研究表明，人们对痴呆症是一种脑部疾病的理解很差。 相反，痴呆症的症状往往被错误地归因于老年或精神疾病的正常部分，而不是可以寻求治疗和支持的健康问题。 罗博士说：“虽然我们还没有治愈痴呆症的方法，但诊断对所有痴呆症患者来说都是至关重要的，因为它可以帮助他们获得治疗、康复和治疗。”。 虽然我们还没有治愈痴呆症的方法，但诊断对所有痴呆症患者来说至关重要，因为它可以帮助他们获得治疗、康复和治疗。 李教授打破痴呆症污名的方法悉尼西部的汉语运动旨在通过更新以前常见的痴呆症术语来推广中文中痴呆症一词的新术语。 “传统上，痴呆症被错误地称为‘老年痴呆症 （简体中文）/老人癡呆症 （繁体中文），普通话中的“lлo nián chīdāi zhèng”或广东话中的“lou yen qi ngoi jing”，意思是“老年人的妄想症和虚妄症”。 我们想改变这种说法，因为这句话加深了耻辱感。 “这个短语意味着痴呆症只与老年人有关，具有负面含义，如决策和记忆问题。 这种古老的术语并不准确，可能导致澳大利亚华人不愿寻求帮助。 程表示，“面对痴呆症”运动使用了包括“大脑退化”和“认知障碍”在内的新术语，以鼓励中国社区将痴呆症视为一种他们不应该感到羞耻的健康问题。 “我们希望提高人们的意识，并鼓励悉尼西部的澳大利亚华人‘面对痴呆症’，而不是忽视这些迹象。 我们的专家团队已经开发了一些资源，包括一个简体中文网站和一份清单，帮助有顾虑的人识别变化，并与医生讨论。 悉尼西部布莱克敦医院的老年病学家lina lee博士说，无论年龄、文化背景或疾病进展如何，及时的诊断都能让患者及其家人调整、提前计划并改变生活方式。 这可能会减缓痴呆症的进展，并显著提高他们的生活质量。 “有些人认为与gp讨论他们的思维问题并不重要，因为他们认为这对老年人来说很正常。 随着症状的恶化，他们可能会担心耻辱。 但痴呆症是一个健康问题&它不是衰老的正常部分，及时的诊断可以为减缓进展提供治疗，并为继续过上好日子提供支持。 李博士和研究小组还在悉尼西部的全科医学中同时实施一项实践改进计划，以提高痴呆症的及时诊断。 我们希望提高人们的意识，并鼓励悉尼西部的澳大利亚华人“面对痴呆症”，而不是忽视这些迹象。 塞德里克·程悉尼居民玛丽10年前与丈夫从中国上海搬到悉尼，与孩子团聚。 退休前，玛丽是一名大学讲师。 她67岁时被诊断出患有痴呆症。 她是患有痴呆症的丈夫的赡养人。 然而，随着症状的恶化，她意识到与医生交谈并寻求额外帮助很重要。 她说她很幸运，她已经对痴呆症有了一些了解和认识，这有助于她与医生展开对话。 王阿姨在中国广州出生和长大，她成年后大部分时间都在澳门和香港度过。 她15年前搬到悉尼照顾孙子孙女。 王阿姨总是为自己的厨艺和家庭主妇的角色感到骄傲。 5年前，她开始注意到自己变得越来越健忘和粗心，以至于在厨房里生火，差点伤到自己和孙女。 王阿姨开始自责起来。 王阿姨和她的家人立刻决定去看医生。 诊断帮助她了解自己的症状是由疾病引起的。 这家人希望能早点和他们的家庭医生谈谈，因为诊断结果让他们接受了如何改变她的环境和支持她更好地发挥作用的教育。 她还发现，与其他痴呆症患者的联系有助于她调整并更好地理解自己的诊断。 “我想鼓励其他人注意痴呆症的症状。 王阿姨说：“要坚定地为自己辩护，并尽早得到诊断。”。 李博士说：“认知筛查可以作为75岁以上澳大利亚老年人年度综合评估的一部分。 这是一个获得基线的好方法，所以你的gp或实习护士可以监测变化。 它们还可以帮助你改善大脑健康，降低患痴呆症的风险。”她说。 *为保护隐私，已更改名称。请访问中国竞选网站：https://facedementia。 au/zh/项目资源由悉尼大学、卧龙岗大学、弗林德斯大学、迪肯大学和悉尼大学的顶尖研究人员开发。 声明：面部痴呆症由澳大利亚政府的医学研究未来基金资助。
stigma about the disease is deterring chinese australians from seeking early diagnosis and support. university of sydney researchers are working with the chinese community to change that.a team of researchers is encouraging chinese australians to recognise dementia symptoms and reach out to get an early diagnosis, by launching a program to break down the social stigma, shame and misconceptions about the disease.statistics show more than 400,000 australians are living with dementia, with 12,000 people living with dementia in western sydney. around half of the people living with dementia remain undiagnosed.the face dementia chinese language campaign is launching in western sydney to provide free online and in person resources to help the community start conversations with family about dementia-related concerns and ask their gp for an assessment.chinese australians living with dementia are often reluctant to seek support because fear of stigma and common misconceptions.“we know that people from diverse cultural backgrounds, including chinese australians, delay seeking help for dementia symptoms,” says lee-fay low, professor in ageing and health at the university of sydney.“our researchwith the chinese australian community shows there is poor understanding that dementia is a brain disease. rather, symptoms of dementia are often incorrectly attributed to being a normal part of old age or mental illness, rather than a health problem where you can seek treatments and support.”“while we don’t yet have a cure for dementia, diagnosis is essential for all people with dementia as it helps them to access treatments, rehabilitation and therapies,” says dr low.while we don’t yet have a cure for dementia, diagnosis is essential for all people with dementia as it helps them to access treatments, rehabilitation and therapies.professor lee fay lowways to break down dementia stigmathe chinese-language campaign in western sydney aims to promote new terms for the word dementia in chinese, by updating previously common terms for dementia.“traditionally, dementia has been mistakenly called ‘老年痴呆症 (simplified chinese) / 老人癡呆症 (traditional chinese), ‘lǎo nián chī dāi zhèng’ in mandarin or ‘lou yen qi ngoi jing’ in cantonese’, which means ‘old people’s delusional and dummy disease’. we’d like to change that because that phrase deepens the stigma,” said university of sydney chinese campaign officer, cedric cheng.“the phrase implies dementia is only associated with the elderly and has negative connotations such as having decision-making and memory issues. this old terminology is not accurate and could have contributed to the unwillingness of chinese australians to ask for help.”mr cheng says the face dementia campaign uses new terms including ‘brain degeneration’ and ‘cognitive impairment’ to encourage the chinese community to view dementia as a health concern they should not be ashamed of.“we want to raise awareness and encourage chinese australians in western sydney to ‘face dementia’ rather than ignore the signs. our expert team has developed resources including a website in simplified chinese and a checklist to help people with concerns identify changes and talk about this with their doctors,” says mr cheng, who also works with clinicians to bring free educational presentations in chinese language to the western sydney area.dr lina lee, a geriatrician based in blacktown hospital, western sydney says a timely diagnosis, regardless of age, cultural background or disease progression, allows patients and their families adjust, plan ahead, and make lifestyle changes. this may slow the progression of dementia and significantly improve their quality of life.“some people don’t think it’s important to discuss their thinking problems with their gp because they see this as normal for older people. as their symptoms worsen, they might be worried about stigma. but dementia is a health problem – it is not a normal part of aging, and a timely diagnosis can provide access to treatment to slow progression and support to continue living well.”dr lee and the research team are also running a simultaneous practice improvement program in general practices in western sydney to improve timely diagnosis of dementia.we want to raise awareness and encourage chinese australians in western sydney to ‘face dementia’ rather than ignore the signs.cedric chengsydney resident, mary*, moved from shanghai, china to sydney 10 years ago with her husband to join her children. before retiring, mary was a university lecturer. she was diagnosed with dementia aged 67. she was a support person for her husband who was living with dementia. however as her symptoms worsened she realised it was important to talk to a doctor and seek extra help. she said she was lucky that she already had some knowledge and awareness on dementia and it helped her initiate a conversation with her doctor.aunty wong*, was born and raised in guangzhou, china and she spent much of her adult life in macau and hong kong. she moved to sydney 15 years ago to look after her grandchildren. aunty wong always took pride in her cookery skills and role as a homemaker. 5 years ago, she started to notice that she had become more forgetful and careless to an extent she started a fire in her kitchen almost injuring herself and her granddaughter. aunty wong then started to blame herself. aunty wong and her family then decided immediately that they should speak to their doctor. a diagnosis helped her understand her symptoms were caused by disease. the family wished they had talked to their gp earlier as the diagnosis led to them receiving education about how to change her environment and support her to function better. she also found connecting with other people living with dementia helped her to adjust and better understand her diagnosis.“i want to encourage others to be aware of the signs of dementia. be firm in advocating for yourself, and to get an early diagnosis,” said aunty wong.dr lee said:“a cognitive screen can be done as part of a comprehensive annual assessment for senior australians over 75 years. it is a good way to get a baseline, so your gp or practice nurse can monitor changes. they can also help you to improve your brain health and reduce your risk of dementia,” she said. * names have been changed to protect privacy visit the chinese campaign website at: https://facedementia.au/zh/program resources were developed by leading researchers from the university of sydney, university of wollongong, flinders university, deakin university, unsw sydney.declaration: face dementia is funded by the australian government’s medical research future fund.
