Dementia care in focus: Fronditha leads vital community discussion

Georgia Tzembetzis, Fronditha Care’s Clinical Care Coordinator, spoke to Neos Kosmos astir the challenges successful providing prime attraction for radical surviving with dementia successful the Greek Australian community.

Tzembetzis is 1 of the panellists for Fronditha Care’s, upcoming forum, An Open Discussion connected Dementia – The personal, κοινωνικά and ineligible interaction of dementia and what you request to know, connected Sunday, September 14, astatine Oakleigh Grammar.

The lawsuit brings together medical, legal, and aged-care professionals to stock insights connected however families tin navigate this hard journey. The sheet includes: Dr Athanasios Kokkinias – Psychiatrist, Secretary of the Hellenic Medical Society of Australia; Georgia Tzembetzis – Quality and Clinical Manager, Fronditha Care; Chris Dolkas – Director, RND Lawyers Pty Ltd; and Mandy Ha – Learning Designer, Dementia Australia.

Tzembetzis said 1 of the “main challenges travel from the information that radical are not truly alert of the symptoms and the signs and the advancement of dementia and however it will present.” Families often don’t cognize however rapidly a idiosyncratic deteriorates, oregon what symptoms and behaviours mightiness arise.

“There’s a deficiency of consciousness crossed the community. People get surprised and shocked and stumped with the deterioration,” Tzembetzis told Neos Kosmos.

She said that families are often unprepared when their loved 1 enters care. “Sometimes I consciousness that the families are coming connected ιστοσελίδα and they haven’t researched, oregon they didn’t person entree to accusation beforehand connected what to expect. These are very hard conversations, but they are important.”

“We usually person this speech connected admission, to hole the people, the families, due to the fact that the transition into care, it’s a milestone, it’s a shocking lawsuit for immoderate benignant of person, for each of us. Imagine, however it indispensable consciousness peculiarly if you person dementia, to transition to an unfamiliar spot with unfamiliar people, particularly successful the archetypal fewer weeks,” she said.

Tzembetzis explained that “families often larn by experience, when incidents happen, when that deterioration takes place. It would beryllium bully to person some benignant of mentation connected what to expect so they don’t get overwhelmed with each these changes.”

She added that dementia does not ever advancement rapidly. “Do not person a very accelerated progress. The illness whitethorn tally for years with insignificant symptoms, however, successful some cases the deterioration is so speedy that the families hadn’t had the accidental to realise what’s happening, and they go overwhelmed with the situation.”

Still, she stressed, “Life doesn’t extremity with dementia. The person, your person, is changing and you person to admit the information that your beloved is changing, and you person to adapt. I would tell the community, this is not the extremity but it’s a antithetic benignant of life, and you person to accommodate to the property changes and the behaviour changes to your loved one.”

One of the large tragedies, she said, is when the idiosyncratic with dementia “doesn’t recognise their ain family” and relatives consciousness rejected.

“Their father, for example, whitethorn not recognise his family, anymore and so they mightiness consciousness helium doesn’t emotion them. But this is not the case. This is simply a encephalon relation that has been impaired.

“People whitethorn person forgotten your sanction oregon your face, but they ne'er hide the feeling of emotion that you person triggered successful them.”

Tzembetzis says cognition gives families “power” to prepare, spouse with healthcare teams, and signifier attraction plans. Photo: Fronditha Care

If a idiosyncratic has dementia, she explained, they mightiness not recognise a household member’s look oregon name, “but you will spot them smiling arsenic σύντομα arsenic the son oregon the girl comes in, oregon a loving wife oregon a beloved husband. The emotion is there, but they can’t truly articulate the sanction oregon the look oregon the time.”

She besides warned that “if the narration was abusive you would spot signs of fearfulness and intimidation successful the idiosyncratic with dementia when the abuser arrives.”

On Sunday, Tzembetzis will take portion successful what she described arsenic a “big treatment astir the person’s decision-making capacity, dignity of choice.” The sheet will besides absorption connected however independency and autonomy tin beryllium preserved.

“Dementia, doesn’t needfully mean that you person mislaid capableness to marque immoderate benignant of determination astir yourself. We often spot that with a Greek families, children, and spouses of someone with dementia tin overstep. They’re over-protective of their beloved one, and they’re making adjacent insignificant decisions astir what benignant of apparel they’re going to wear for example. We person to permission some level of decision-making to the idiosyncratic surviving with dementia. So that the dignity is preserved, so they don’t consciousness wholly powerless,” she said.

For Tzembetzis, 1 cardinal connection is “power.” She said that if we cognize what to expect, we tin hole and spouse with a wellness attraction team, beryllium portion of the mentation of a attraction plan.

“We request to beryllium partners successful care, with the family, the specialists, and successful bid to bash that, we request to instil cognition first.”

By equipping families with cognition and support, Fronditha Care hopes to guarantee that nary 1 faces the travel of dementia alone.

Free event: The personal, κοινωνικά and ineligible interaction of dementia and what you request to know

Sunday 14 September 2025

Conference Centre, Oakleigh Grammar

77/81 Willesden Rd, Oakleigh VIC 3166