Dominican activist strives to do more on raising awareness for dementia

BY SYDNEE WALCOTT

Upon understanding the stigma surrounding dementia, one person decided to stand up against it.

After losing her grandfather to dementia when she was 16, Rianna Patterson, 25, became interested in learning more about the disorder.

As her grandfather was battling dementia, Patterson noticed a lack of resources available to learn more about dementia.

She relied on external resources such as Alzheimer’s Society. This resource was England-based, and Patterson wanted to find resources based in her family’s home country, Dominica.

Patterson’s grandfather lost his ability to walk and talk as his dementia grew. It made her feel hopeless, but she processed everything by remembering that her grandfather was still a person.

“He was someone to somebody,” said Patterson.

There were a lot of life challenges for him, and an emotional adapting for the family as well.

After being discharged from the hospital: Patterson, her mother, and her grandmother took on challenging tasks to help care for her grandfather. One of those tasks included carrying him up a flight of stairs once he lost his ability to walk.

Patterson’s experience made her realize there needed to be a community to help those impacted by dementia understand they are not alone.

Patterson came up with the idea to establish the Dominica Dementia Foundation in 2016 to help improve the quality of care in the healthcare system and develop more research on dementia in Caribbean communities.

The organization is a youth-led organization that started with just Patterson and some of her college friends.

The organization has grown a lot within the short time they’ve been around. Members of the organization have partaken in advocacy work, fundraising, and crisis management.

Patterson has obtained an Associate and Bachelor’s Degree in psychology and is now looking forward to gaining a Master’s Degree in dementia at the University College London (UCL).

Unfortunately, Patterson had to defer her offer for the 2022/2023 school year because she could not secure enough funds for tuition, accommodation, and living expenses.

Patterson is currently looking into crowdfunding for her to start her studies during the 2023/2024 school year.

Most of the money raised came from: individual giving, a bursary from a charitable trust in the United Kingdom, and a scholarship to help her with accommodations.

Patterson has also looked at other charitable organizations and sponsors to help with funding.

Once she begins her studies, Patterson would like to learn more about ageism, the current research on dementia, the biological and psychological aspects of dementia, ongoing work done to treat dementia, and how communities globally perceive dementia.

After she obtains her degree, Patterson would like to funnel the information she acquired into the Dominica Dementia Foundation.

She wants to develop other innovative practices and continue to do research in a senior position in a multicultural organization.

 “It doesn’t just allow me to focus on dementia in Dominica, but dementia in a global context,” said Patterson, who wants to continue to create a dementia-friendly world to help make life easier for those suffering from dementia.

Patterson’s fundraiser currently stands at 12,000 pounds out of 20,000 pounds.

For those who would like to donate to Patterson’s crowdfund, take the time to learn a little more and click on the link here to donate.