Nova Scotia doctor’s book is a caregiver’s account of living with a loved one’s dementia

CTV’s Bruce Frisko interviews Dr. Agnes Chinelo who wrote a book about living with dementia.

Aging Maritimers have questions about the growing number of dementia cases.

A recent study from the University of British Columbia shows the number of new cases could increase across Canada by 187 per cent by 2050. That means as many as 1.7 million Canadians could be affected.

Dr. Agnes Chinelo is a family doctor in Nova Scotia whose father had dementia. She wrote a book about her experience because she said she was unprepared when her father got sick despite her experience in health care.

“He was a community leader,” Chinelo said. “Really very calm, energetic and a very, very spiritual human being.”

Chinelo said her father was agreeable before dementia, but the disease changed his personality.

“Especially during the late stages of dementia,” she said. “He became very confrontational. He was the reverse of who I have known all my life.”

She said her father could change from morning to evening. He wandered off while under her care when they lived in the U.K.

“It was a traumatic experience for me, looking for my dad, a Black, African man in the U.K.”

Chinelo said when she found her father he was fine, but she wasn’t.

“On reflection, it was just caregiver exhaustion,” she said. “And that shame and guilt. I mean, as a doctor people come to us to seek help.”

Chinelo said that was when she realized she couldn’t help her father on her own. She said she wrote the book for people and caregivers who find themselves in a similar struggle.

“People are there to support you,” she said.

Chinelo said even with universal healthcare in the U.K. and Canada, more needs to be done to manage rising dementia cases.

“We need more support services here in Canada, like social services and all those resources need to be available for caregivers to be able to help them with their challenges.”

Chinelo said she hopes her book will resonate with anybody living with or supporting someone living with dementia.

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