Yes. At the end of June 2019, there was a session in the Chamber of Deputies to discuss public policies for treating and preventing dementia in Brazil. This might be considered progress towards perceiving and supporting people living with dementia and their carers. In this session in the Chamber of Deputies, many topics, such as stigma reduction, prevention, support for carers, day care and long-term care institutions, were discussed. At the end of the session, it was agreed that a Dementia Committee should be created including members of Parliament and the general public in order to create a National Dementia Plan. A member of the STRiDE-Brazil Steering Committee gave a talk about dementia in this session and presented the STRiDE project. The dissemination of the STRiDE project may also work changing perceptions of dementia among the population. According to the study cited in the question above (from Cleusa’s Master student), out of 87 interviewed older people, 84.7% of them would like to know the diagnosis of dementia and should then be diagnosed, and 82.1% would like to share the diagnosis with a caregiver (Opaleye et al., 2018). In addition, some Brazilian soap operas have been showing characters living with Alzheimer’s, for example “Senhora do Destino, in 2004”, “I love Paraisopolis, in 2015”, “Deus Salve o Rei, in 2018” and “Salve-se quem Puder in 2020”. Soap operas are a popular form of mass entertainment in Brazil and may reflect the growing attention given to the cause of dementia. The first approval of the National Dementia Policy by the Senate House seems to be an indicator of the process of changing perceptions in the country.

References:

Opaleye, D., Machado, D. de A., Campos, T. P., Laks, J., & Ferri, C. P. (2018). Dementia in Brazil: Preferences on diagnosis disclosure in primary care. AAIC 2018, Chicago.

The Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing conducted a public survey in 2005 and 2015 (Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing, 2015) to examine the change in knowledge about dementia in Hong Kong. The comparison showed that there was a changing perception of dementia, including improvement in knowledge and awareness towards dementia and a reduction in misconception. The findings also indicate that respondents paid more attention to the signs of early dementia and became more willing to bring their family to consult with physicians when dementia symptoms emerged.

This change in public perception could be attributed to multiple factors. First, in 2010, a working group comprised of ten medical professional bodies and other dementia campaigns had suggested to change the Chinese terminology of dementia in order to alter the way people perceive individuals with dementia. The original Chinese terminology of dementia was equivalent to ‘insanity’ and ‘idiocy’, in other words, a degrading name. In fact, the medical professionals believed that the negative connotation of the Chinese terminology largely contributed to the stigmatising attitudes towards dementia, which resulted in the delay of medical consultations and in the general public’s refusal to accept diagnosis (Working Group on New Chinese Terminology for Dementia and Cognitive Impairment, 2011). In 2012, the new name which signifies dementia as a cognitive disorder, was proposed by the working group to substitute the previous demeaning name, which attempted to reduce its stigmatising connotations (Chiu & Li, 2012). The new Chinese terminology of dementia was found to be more acceptable and the vast majority (87%) supported the substitution of old term (Chiu et al., 2014). The new Chinese name of dementia is widely adopted by the media, medical professionals, general public, and the Government.

Furthermore, Professor Charles K Kao, former Professor in the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Nobel Laureate in Physics in 2009, who was known as the “Father of Fibre Optics”, battled against Alzheimer’s disease since 2002. This significantly raised the public awareness about dementia and led the public to stop viewing dementia as a taboo. In addition, Charles K Kao and his spouse founded a foundation in 2010, namely The Charles K Kao Foundation, to raise public awareness of dementia and disseminate tips on caring the brain. In addition, there were local movies surrounding dementia (such as Happiness in 2016, The Tail Before in 2018) as well as television dramas (Forensic Heroes IV, Lo and Behold) that arouse the awareness of the disease, and enhanced understanding on individuals with dementia and care needs. Aside from this, a few celebrities also shared their stories and experiences about taking care of their family members who were diagnosed with dementia (such as Kara Wai Ying-Hung, Nina Paw Hee-Ching, and Kearen Pang).

Lastly, various dementia awareness campaigns conducted by different sectors and organisations targeting different audience groups in the past decade which included students, frontline workers, and caregivers, have deepened public understanding of dementia and influenced the way they perceive dementia.

References:

Chiu, F. K., & Li, S. W. (2012). Recent Developments in Dementia: From New Diagnostic Criteria to a New Name [Editorial]. East Asian Arch Psychiatry, 22, 139-140.

Chiu, H., Sato, M., Kua, E., Lee, M., Yu, X., et al. (2014). Renaming dementia – an East Asian perspective. International Psychogeriatrics, 26, 885-887. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610214000453

Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing. (2015). Misconceptons about dementia 2015 – Factsheet for Press (v2 20150915) [Press release].

Working Group on New Chinese Terminology for Dementia and Cognitive Impairment. (2011). A new Chinese terminology for dementia and cognitive impairment. Hong Kong Med J, 17(4), 342.

Not applicable.

One of the results of the public awareness raising campaign is that more people contacted ALZI to seek for information on or help with dementia. It shows that there is a change in the perception towards dementia. Since life expectancy in Indonesia has increased over the last decades, the public has become more aware of dementia. They understand that it is important to have early recognition of the signs and symptoms of dementia.

There is no documented evidence on current or changing perceptions of dementia in Jamaica. However, there is some indication that targeted stigma reduction campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s have shown positive effects, with at least one study revealing that older persons (over 40 years) showed more positive emotions and tolerance to those living with a mental illness (Arthur, et al., 2010). Such evidence provides hope that the current efforts of bring awareness to dementia and reducing stigma will bring favourable results in the years to come.

References:

Arthur C.M., Hickling F.W. Robertson-Hickling H, Haynes-Robinson T, Abel W, Whitley R. (2010). Mad, Sick, Head Nuh Good: Mental Illness Stigma in Jamaican Communities. Transcultural Psychiatry, 47(2):252-275. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461510368912

Qualitative studies conducted in Kenya reveal that there is still lack of awareness and understanding of dementia, and in some communities, there is either no local term for dementia (Musyimi et al., 2021; Njoki, 2018) or the one in existence is considered derogatory (Musyimi et al., 2019; C. W. Musyimi et al., 2021). Although not documented, it is expected that with increasing awareness, a proportion of the population in Kenya will shift from negative perceptions of dementia to less stigmatized and acceptable terms on dementia.

References:

Musyimi, C. W., Ndetei, D. M., Evans-Lacko, S., Oliveira, D., Mutunga, E., & Farina, N. (2021). Perceptions and experiences of dementia and its care in rural Kenya. Dementia.  https://doi.org/10.1177/14713012211014800

Musyimi, C., Mutunga, E., & Ndetei, D. (2019). Stigma and dementia care in Kenya: Strengthening Responses to Dementia in Developing Countries (STRiDE) Project. In World Alzheimer Report 2019: Attitudes to dementia (pp. 121–122). London, UK: Alzheimer’s Disease International. https://www.alzint.org/u/WorldAlzheimerReport2019.pdf

Njoki, M. (2018). Dementia in Africa: an exploration of Kenyan carers’ experiences supporting someone with dementia. https://dementia.stir.ac.uk/blogs/dementia-centred/2018-05-17/dementia-africa-exploration-kenyan-carers-experiences-supporting

In accordance with to World Alzheimer Report 2019 on the attitudes towards dementia (ADI, 2019), in Mexico there are varied perceptions according to the profile of the participants, while 7.6% of healthcare practitioners agreed that people with dementia are perceived as dangerous, 41.2% of the general public agreed that people with dementia are perceived as dangerous. Moreover, 73% of them approved that people living with dementia are impulsive and unpredictable (ADI, 2019). This denotes a negative attitude among the general population. However, there is not enough evidence of changing perceptions.

References:

ADI. (2019). World Alzheimer Report 2019: Attitudes to dementia. https://www.alz.co.uk/research/WorldAlzheimerReport2019.pdf

The 2017 Alzheimer’s NZ telephone survey described above included questions from previous surveys carried out in 2014 (Alzheimer’s NZ, 2014) and 2015 (Alzheimer’s NZ, 2015), allowing a measure of progress in the intervening years. Compared to 2014, respondents in 2015:

• Reported the same knowledge base (i.e., knowing at least a “fair amount” about dementia).
• Were more likely to report knowing someone with dementia.
• More likely to identify dementia as a fatal condition.
• Less likely to be reluctant to tell others if they or a family member had dementia.

References:

Alzheimer’s NZ. (2014). Awareness and understanding of dementia in NZ 2014.

Alzheimer’s NZ. (2015). Awareness and Understanding of Dementia: July 2015 report.

Research on dementia in South Africa is limited. Currently there is no research to date that provides evidence that perceptions regarding dementia are changing. News reports include articles that attempt to raise awareness of dementia (for example see https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-09-21-living-with-alzheimers-memory-loss-is-not-a-normal-part-of-ageing/; and https://www.news24.com/tags/topics/dementia?mobile=true) but these do not suggest that perceptions of dementia in South Africa are shifting. In fact, these articles are calling for an increase in awareness and publishing media that increase knowledge and understanding of dementia.