LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Living well with dementia. That’s part of the mission of the National Council of Dementia Minds.
Its goal is to connect, support, and advocate for people living with this neurocognitive disorder. Brenda Roberts is the executive director and said that life isn’t over for people battling this disease.
“So many people when they think dementia they think about the very end stage of the disease. There’s a lot of life to be lived from the time you get your diagnosis up until that point and time,” Roberts said.
This organization is made up of small groups of people living with dementia who meet every week. One of those groups is called “A Brotherhood of Dementia: Learning, Laughter, Loyalty. James Butler is a member and said the men in this group mean a lot to him.
“Everybody in this room are mentors to me and to each other. These are my peers, these are my friends, these are my leaders,” Butler said.
Butler believes that in order to change the course of your life you need dedication.
“You have to learn how to work with living with dementia and how to communicate and do all kinds of stuff perhaps differently than what you were doing before,” He said.
Roberts said that these groups provide lifelong learning and personal growth to create a better life for people living with memory loss and other struggles in their minds.
“They stand up a little tall. They don’t just have a sense of meaning and purpose. They now have meaning and purpose again,” Roberts said.
