The PM says thanks

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has thanked the 1,600 dementia advocates who sent her a heart shaped postcard requesting greater action and more funding, on Valentine’s day 2012.

Above: Snapshot of the PM’s letter of thanks

By Yasmin Noone

The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has personally thanked both Alzheimer’s Australia and the 1,600 concerned advocates who sent her a heart-shaped Fight Dementia campaign postcard on Valentine’s day, last month.

Alzheimer’s Australia’s head office was caught by surprise earlier this week when it received a thank you letter from the PM herself, on her official letterhead, acknowledging both the “thoughtfulness” and the “sheer volume” of the Valentine’s day messages sent to her.

The successful community response to the Fight Dementia campaign, Ms Gillard said, showed “just how much of an impact dementia is having in our community”.

“Behind each of your messages is a poignant story of the personal challenges of living with dementia, a loved one who is being changed by this disease, and the generous response of family and friends as they seek to care for them,” the letter reads.

“I am profoundly aware of those challenges and accept that we need to do better as a nation in responding to them. That’s why developing better systems of care for older Australians and those living with disability is one of the priorities of the government – and one of my very highest personal goals in public life.

“Indeed, we are committed to significant reforms in aged care and disability services – reforms which you have all worked so hard to bring about. I deeply value your support and patience as we take the time to get these reforms right so they can provide the standard of care our loved ones deserve.

“Thank you for keeping this issue at the forefront of national attention.

Alzheimer’s Australia policy manager, Dr Ellen Skladzien, expressed her gratitude for the PM’s letter.

“We were particularly pleased that she indicated that ‘…developing better systems of care for older Australians and those living with disability is one of the priorities of the government – and one of my very highest personal goals in public life’,” said Dr Skladzien.

“The Prime Minister’s response shows that we have been successful in raising awareness about the concerns of people with dementia at the highest levels of politics.

“While there was no commitment to funding, which we couldn’t expect at this time, it is positive to hear that the Prime Minister has acknowledged the need for an aged and health system that needs to respond more effectively to the needs of people with dementia.”

Alzheimer’s Australia used its Valentine’s Day initiative to garner community support for its broader, ongoing Fight Dementia campaign which seeks to secure $500 million of federal government funding over the next five years for the cause.

Teams of Alzheimer’s Australia staff members, volunteers and supporters hit the streets in every capital city on the annual day of romance to hand out the heart-shaped campaign cards to members of the community.

A total of 7,500 heart shaped campaign postcards – sent before, after and on Valentine’s Day – were sent by members of the public to key politicians including Prime Minister Julia Gillard; Treasurer Wayne Swan; Finance Minister, Penny Wong; and Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott.

“Some received more and some received less.

“We knew that the Prime Minister would be a favourite to send so we printed more addressed to Ms Gillard.”

Mr Abbott received a bulk of the postcards prior to Valentine’s day and contacted the organisation via Twitter on Tuesday 14 February to offer his own message of thanks: “Appreciate the many cards from [Alzheimer’s Australia] about the need for more funding into causes of dementia. A timely reminder of a great cause.”

“The main objective for Valentine’s Day was to reach out into the community to gather support and to get a large number of cards sent to Parliament House to raise awareness among political leaders on both sides of government,” Dr Skladzien said.

“We had a great level of involvement from the community and we have now received responses from both the government and the Opposition so we know we have reached both goals.

Dr Skladzien urges members of the community to continue to ‘fight dementia’ by supporting the campaign.

“As the budget decisions are being made right at this moment, we can only continue to engage with the community to increase Dementia Champion numbers and increase the number of fans on Facebook and Twitter (@AlzheimersAus).

“We need people to share their stories with the local members of parliament and state senators to increase awareness of what we need in the Federal Budget in May.

“…But most of all become a Dementia Champion just by taking a couple of minutes to sign up on the website. We need as many Dementia Champions as possible.”

Tags: abbott, dementia, dementia-champion, fight-dementia, gillard, julia-gillard, mp, parliament-house, postcards, skladzien, tony-abbott, valentines,

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