Fundraiser for Mum

Hello there,

Recently, my beautiful mother Mary-Anne Mannix (nee McCudden) has succumbed to many of the conditions brought on by acute Dementia, which is incredibly hard to watch.  Whilst there is no way to cure it at present, what the world must keep doing is funding research so eventually, new methods of treatment will be available.  So, in 2021 my goal is to raise money to go towards the following study:

 Dr Suraj Samtani – A novel social cognition intervention for older adults with cognitive impairment: Co-design and pilot study – UNSW Sydney

People living with cognitive impairments often experience loneliness and depression. They find it hard not just to remember things, but also talking to others. Many older adults with cognitive impairment have difficulties with recognising emotions and reacting in a socially appropriate way. Most treatments developed for dementia focus on improving memory and language. So far, there is no treatment that helps people recover or maintain social skills as their cognitive abilities decline. We want to change that. We will run focus groups with people living with cognitive impairments and their care partners. Together we will write a social skills training manual specifically designed for older adults with cognitive impairments. We will then run a pilot study to test the effectiveness of the social skills training. Our hope is that people living with cognitive impairments can reconnect with others and experience the joy of socialising once again. 

 Our mum was someone who loved socialising and her calendar was always full.  I hope this study, and studies like it, can help people living with dementia continue to engage in friendships old and new.

You can make a donation directly through this page, any contribution is greatly appreciated and is one small step towards finding a cure.

Cheers, Patrick Dowling