April 7th is celebrated as International World Health Day, which this year highlighted the theme of dpression. Estimates show there were over 9 million people with depression and over 8 million people with anxiety in Indonesia in 2015. This places the country in second place in terms of prevalence in the South-East Asia, after India. This may partly be due to the fact that in Indonesia, people tend to be more reluctant to seek help out of fear of being stigmatised. 

The Let’s Talk project aims to change people’s attitude towards depression, in the hope that they will be more aware of their level of stress, burn out and willing to find support when they face problems. 

It is important to recognize the overlap between depression and dementia. According to research in USA, more than 1 out of 3 caregivers of people with dementia report that their health has gotten worse due to care responsibilities, compared to 1 out of 5 caregivers for older people without dementia. Also, depression and anxiety are more common among dementia caregivers than among people providing care for individuals with certain other conditions.

In light of these issues, Alzheimer’s Indonesia and the Ministry of Health (supported by the Faculty of Medicine Atma Jaya University, WHO, and HelpAge Indonesia 'Yayasan Emong Lansia' and Yayasan Pulih) held an event: Depression, Let’s Talk on 8th of April, 2017 for approximately 600 participants who were offered a burn out test, early detection for dementia, a talk show about depression, and consultations with volunteer psychologists.

The program is one of the “road to Regional Conference on Alzheimer’s” in November 2017 in Jakarta. It will be followed by further programs, including a book launch, film competition, and more. Similar events will be held in Geneva, Switzerland and Denhaag, The Netherlands.

For more info, please visit: www.alzi.or.id

Written by: Dian Purnomo – Alzheimer’s Indonesia

Dian joined Alzheimer’s Indonesia as volunteer in 2013, and managed to help the organization receive funding from Grand Challenges Canada for Kickstarting Awareness of Alzheimer’s in Indonesia. She also helped to write the 1st book ever about people living with Alzheimer’s and the journey of caregivers in Indonesia. After stepping down as Executive Director of ALZI, she focused more on Dementia Care Skills Training to improve the quality life of people living with Dementia in Indonesia.