Tragedy shouldn’t be the catalyst for change
Alzheimers NZ Chief Executive Catherine Hall reflects on the urgent need for action from Government
Like me, you may have seen a myriad of news reports recently about people living with dementia mate wareware and their whānau.
It’s been heartbreaking to read these stories and see that whānau are, yet again, suffering.
Some of the most recent reports are on Stuff and RNZ (or see our response on the Alzheimers NZ website).
Respite is at the top of the list of what whānau need and yet it remains one of the hardest services to access. And we also know that many people will need aged residential care as their dementia mate wareware progresses.
So we’re heartbroken for these whānau, who are the victims of an under-resourced system supporting people living with dementia mate wareware.
They’re the result of long term, systemic failure which blatantly ignores them. But much of the pressure that is being experienced here is avoidable. Our ageing population and the rapidly rising number of people with dementia mate wareware are no surprise to anyone.
Like others, we have been strongly advising Government for several years about the impact of the ageing population and the need for better support, and providing advice on evidence-based solutions. And that’s the real scandal. Because successful governments have kicked this can down the road repeatedly.
And the only beacon of hope we have in these situations is that it makes it harder for Government, Ministers, Health NZ and other decision makers to not do anything.
We have strong recommendations for Government in the lead up to the 2026 General Election.
We’re asking Government to progressively implement and fund and the Dementia Mate Wareware Action Plan, fund community-based dementia services appropriately and to create and implement an older persons’ health and aged care strategy to stop this happening again.
These are underlying issues which need to be addressed immediately – what’s missing is action and investment.
These issues are real. And behind these issues are real people, with real struggles. But it shouldn’t take something like the recent tragedies to bring these issues to light.
The worst thing Government can do now is not make any changes.