Dementia With Dignity

Advocates and employers share how they help people with cognitive impairment find purpose and stay at work

- Akshita Nanda

Twice a week, Mr Michael Tan, 59, works for a laundry firm at an industrial estate in Gul Link. His job gives him an outing from the dementia care facility where he resides. The former plasterer also likes earning money to buy snacks and other items he wants.

"I like to do things with my hands," says Mr Tan, in between folding towels.

Ms Emily Ong, 58, runs workshops on diversity and inclusion and hosts a peer support group for people with dementia and their carers. Seven years ago, she was diagnosed with young-onset dementia, which is when the condition manifests in people below the age of 65.

"My advocacy and consultative work engages my brain," she says. "I'm still able to do a lot of things. I want people to know that."

Both Mr Tan and Ms Ong find their work therapeutic. It is meaningful, gives them a sense of purpose and helps to maintain their cognitive faculties.

However, for many in the workforce, a diagnosis of dementia signals instant retirement or dismissal.

Loss of memory as well as cognitive decline are part of dementia. However, the condition progresses differently in different people.

Ms Ong does not believe that a diagnosis of dementia should take people out of the workforce immediately.

"People take years to build their expertise, and even after a diagnosis of dementia, companies can still tap that expertise for a period of time," she says.

Ms Alison Lim, 68, who has young-onset dementia and was diagnosed in her 50s, has recently been training companies on how to work with clients or employees who have dementia. The co-founder of ground-up initiative Dementia & Co says some companies see value in being dementia-friendly or dementia-inclusive.

Such openness helps to build trust between employer and workforce, she says. It allows people with dementia or cognitive impairment to get the support they need to continue working optimally.