Prepare for the Road Ahead & Live Well With Alzheimer’s

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For Jan Darbey and Fred Arnold, an Alzheimer’s diagnosis wasn’t earth shattering. Fred was told he had developed the progressive disease that causes memory loss nearly two years ago. While the prognosis was frightening, the couple has stuck to a mantra: don’t see the end of the road, but all the good living along the way.

Both Fred and Jan are active in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario, and particularly within the Alzheimer’s community where they have made connections with families in the same situation.

The couple are advocates for dementia awareness and use their voice to educate both the general public and people directly impacted by the disease. They say it’s vital to read up on safety-related topics to help people with dementia live safely. Pointing to the Finding Your Way® Living Safely with Dementia Resource Guide developed by the Alzheimer Society of Ontario, Jan and Fred say that life with dementia can be safe, fulfilling and joy-filled.

The Finding Your Way® Living Safely with Dementia Resource Guide provides tips and strategies to help people live safely at home. People living with Alzheimer’s and dementia often experience changes in balance, visual perceptions, memory and judgement. Through community outreach and with tools like the Resource Guide, the Alzheimer Society of Ontario seeks to prepare people to manage incidents of getting lost and address potential safety issues. The Resource Guide is a critical tool given sixty percent of people living with dementia will go missing at some point, often without warning.

The Resource Guide allows users to explore safety plans, helps them assess their living environment and encourages people living with dementia to remain engaged in their communities and stay active. Jan Darbey says education through tools like the Resource Guide is instrumental in keeping people living with dementia safe and happy. She stresses ongoing affirmations of love and respect and to ensure that people living with dementia know that their opinions matter, because they do more than ever.

Since 1983, the Alzheimer Society of Ontario has been dedicated to improving the quality of life for Ontarians living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias and advancing the search for a cure. To learn more about the Finding Your Way® Living Safely with Dementia Resource Guide, visit FindingYourWayOntario.ca.