Photographer encourages Dubbo businesses to become dementia-friendly

A few years earlier, he had been forgetful about some things, but now the signs were more obvious: he was mistaking Milo for sugar; he was obsessed with his great-grandchildren's safety. Mack's dementia was progressing.

Ms Bentick Fistr's nan, Betty Bentick, wasn't able to care for her husband full-time so, in 2020 during COVID-19, Mack entered residential aged care.

It was heartbreaking for Ms Bentick Fistr who had been raised by her nan and pop, and for the family who were unable to visit Mack during lockdown. Betty and Mack hadn't been apart in their 65 years of marriage.

But equally hard, was understanding what was happening to Mack, and finding ways to communicate with him when he was having his hard days.

"I just thought dementia was memory loss. But watching Pop go through it and the decline he's gone through, I had no idea," Ms Bentick Fistr said.

She turned to the internet for answers and came across a seven-week course called Understanding Dementia offered by the University of Tasmania.

"It's a free online course that can be done by anyone - not just health professionals and people who work in aged care. It's really good for people who have someone who has been diagnosed," Ms Bentick Fistr said.

"I thought I needed to know more, so I logged in and did the course.

"It really opened my eyes about what to expect, how to deal with it, and what was going on with Pop."

She learned and put into action a number of therapy techniques, including reminiscent therapy which utilises photos and objects, and music therapy.

"Pop was a fireman, a farmer and a butcher - you name it, he's been it. We had to sell the family home and in packing that up I gathered some of his old farming things. Part of the therapy was, he finds the tools and matches them with the picture of the tools. He recognised those things were his straight away - they can be very possessive when they have dementia," Ms Bentick Fistr said.

Next, she headed to the Dementia Australia website, where she made an online account and began to access the resources available to individuals and businesses.

She became a Dementia Friend after watching three videos and filling out the associated quizzes, and discovered that any business can make steps to become dementia-friendly and apply for a certification through Dementia Australia.

For a cafe for example, this could include things like clearer signage and labelling of the toilets, a designated spot for people with dementia and their carers or families to sit, larger font on the menus, and someone on staff who might be able to verbalise the menu.

Ms Bentick Fistr's local photography business, Preserve Photography, is in the process of becoming certified.

"I want to give families the opportunity to have pictures taken with their loved ones who have dementia without them feeling stressed," she said. "My aim is to spread awareness and encourage local businesses to become dementia friendly."

She encouraged any sewers out there to make 'fidget blankets' with buttons and zippers attached to donate to aged care homes in the area.