Glimmer of hope with new government after tough year

It’s been a tough year all around. We’ve been faced with Cyclone Gabrielle and other ongoing weather events, an increased cost of living that’s pinching the pockets of whānau and a nail-biting Rugby World Cup final… not to mention the uncertainty created by the recent General Election!

And that’s just locally – there’s so much more going on in the rest of the world.

Which means it’s not really getting any easier for people and their whānau living with dementia mate wareware as other causes can take precedence.

We’ve had a few wins. Seven dementia mate wareware pilots are rolling out across Aotearoa New Zealand off the back of Budget 2022, and there’s been a spotlight on the sector this year with some significant media coverage including The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes and the latest episode of Paddy Gower Has Issues.

And now the new Government has given us a glimmer of hope in the coalition agreement between National and NZ First.

Before we delve deeper into this, we must first give credit where credit is due.

The previous Government endorsed the Dementia Mate Wareware Action Plan. While we couldn’t secure all the funding needed to fully implement the Plan, it was great to have the acknowledgement there is an urgent need for change.

Now, we’re looking forward to working closely with the Minister of Health Dr Shane Reti and Minister for Seniors Casey Costello to do our bit to help the new Government turn those commitments into action. We’ve personally welcomed them both to the sector and with Dementia NZ, shared our Briefing to the Incoming Minister.

We were delighted to see the new Govenment’s focus on the aged care sector, particularly its interest in supporting people with early onset conditions, and its interest in a bipartisan agreement on funding for care and dementia mate wareware beds now and for the future demand.

While this isn’t a commitment, it’s a firm acknowledgement there needs to be change for the more than 70,000 people currently living with dementia mate wareware in Aotearoa New Zealand and their whānau – although unpublished research shows the current numbers are likely to be higher than that.

Having said that, we are disappointed with the Government’s decision to repeal Aotearoa New Zealand’s world-leading smokefree legislation.

As we all know, smoking is one of the modifiable factors that can contribute to Alzheimers and dementia mate wareware, and repealing legislation designed to reduce smoking prevalence creates totally unacceptable health and health equity issues, particularly among Māori.

And this comes on top of the new Government’s decision to disestablish Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority, which is equally disappointing given the significant equity issues for Māori with dementia mate wareware.

Despite all the disruption we’ve been facing this year, I’m proud of everything the team at Alzheimers NZ and our friends and partners have achieved during 2023.

We were delighted to present the first two hybrid Repositioning Dementia events in Wellington and Christchurch . We’ve had some amazing feedback and are looking forward to the next event in March.

Our incredible speakers have so far included Co-Chairs of the Dementia Mate Wareware Leadership and Advisory Group Dr Makarena Dudley and Teresa Wall, Te Whatu Ora National Commissioner Abbe Andersen, Aged Care Commissioner Carolyn Cooper Alzheimers NZ Lived Experience Advisory Group’s Sisa Talataina  and Professor Lynette Tippett, who launched the Alzheimer’s Disease International World Alzheimer Report 2023.

We’ve put up two Briefings to the Incoming Minister (the first being when portfolios changed following Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s resignation earlier this year), and held a political panel at our September event. We also published their answers to our pre-election policy questions on our website.

We were also delighted to launch our new online learning module Living with Dementia, share Educational Dementia Immersive Experience (EDIE) (a virtual reality learning session) even further and launch new resources in te reo Māori and Pacific languages.

We’ve been delighted to work jointly Dementia NZ, not only on the Briefing to Ministers, but also on a new service delivery model for community-based dementia mate wareware services and its associated business case. Thank you to our joint team for all the work that has gone into pulling these together.

We’ve commissioned research to strengthen the planning of services for people living with dementia mate wareware (to be shared at our next event in March 2024) , and are pleased to say we now have nearly 18,500 Dementia Friends across the country – and counting!

We’ve also been out and about making our first appearance at Fieldays, joining the Rauawaawa Kaumatua Charitable Trust’s Kaumātua Health, Housing and Technology Expo 2023 and the Alzheimer’s Disease International Asia Pacific Regional Conference 2023.

A big thank you to all our supporters – we can’t do this without you. In particular, a big ngā mihi to our generous donors and the staff and volunteers at our local Alzheimers organisations. We’d also like to thank our Lead Partner Ryman Healthcare and Summerset Retirement Villages.

While there are any number of adjectives we can use to reflect on 2023 – tough, disruptive, uncertain – as you can see, we’re still doing everything we can to advocate for and to deliver more and better services for people and their whānau living with dementia mate wareware.

Now I hope we’ll all take the chance to rest, relax and recharge over the holiday period as we gear up for what I expect will be another eventful year. Maybe this time next year we’ll be reflecting on the changes that we’re hopeful of now?

Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.