Healthcare groups turn to blogging too

Sunday April 6, 2008
Source : The Sunday Star Newspaper

GENTING HIGHLANDS: It is not just political activists who have turned to blogs, healthcare support groups are joining the bandwagon, too.

Alzheimer's Disease Foundation Malaysia (ADFM) is the latest to turn to blogs to help bridge the information gap among patients and caregivers.

Two sites http://www.adfmmalaysia.blogspot.com/ and http://www.admalaysia.ning.com/ (National Alzheimer's Caregivers Network) are expected to be launched today, the final day of the National Alzheimer's Caregivers Conference here.

Event organising chairman Ong Eng Joo said members could post articles on the disease on the blogs.

Pretty little things: Wendy Ong (right) and ADFM founder Toh Puan Aishah Ong looking at the souvenirs on sale at the conference in Genting Highlands yesterday.

"We are also planning to set up a helpline, where the public can post questions which will be referred to professionals. The answers will be published online," he told The Star.

Ong said they hoped to incorporate a chat room, which would be moderated by doctors, so that the public have a platform to discuss Alzheimer's Disease.

He said a pool of 10 to 15 specialists had agreed to be moderators.

Earlier, ADFM patron Datin Seri Wendy Ong, who launched the three-day conference, said: "We know that there is still so much that has to be done to make information more accessible to caregivers, especially those living in remote areas.

"With ADFM setting up a National Caregivers Network, more information on the disease will be shared among the caregivers."

Increasing Awareness On Dementia

SOURCE : THE STAR NEWSPAPER
DATE : Nov 4, 2007 (Sunday)

PETALING JAYA:
Filial piety may be the cause of late detection of Alzheimer's Disease among Malaysians, Alzheimer's Disease Foundation Malaysia (ADFM) patron Datin Seri Wendy Ong said.

“Many families, especially in the rural areas, still consider Alzheimer's as part of the aging process and do not seek help and treatment until the situation worsens,” she said.

She said this when opening a public forum entitled “Dementia is Everyone's Business” organised by ADFM yesterday. The forum was held to create awareness and share information on caring for those suffering from dementia.

Wendy Ong, who is the wife of Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, urged those diagnosed with early dementia to seek medical treatment.

She said this could help caregivers be better prepared and cope with the problem.

“Early treatment will also enable them to maintain a reasonable quality of life,” she said.

Based on international statistics, she said 5% of people between the ages of 65 and 80, and 20% of those aged above 80 will have dementia.

“It is a disease that hits people as young as 45 years old.

“As our population ages, we are going to experience more and more cases of dementia, especially Alzheimer's Disease,” she said.

Speaker Willie Kwa, an ADFM exco member, said it was hard having to look after people with early dementia because they were sometimes rational and other times confused and would talk gibberish.

“Quite often they lose the ability of knowing what they are doing, and have very short attention span and frequent memory lapses,” said Kwa, a retired mental health practitioner for the elderly in Britain.