“We have to assume it as a society”

The neurologist Andrea Slachevsky and the actress Paulina Urrutia They talked next to Héctor CossioGeneral editor of The counter on the challenges of Alzheimer’s and other dementias in the Antofagasta Puerto de Ideas Festival.

From his experience in the documentary led by Maite Alberdi, Infinite memory And in his personal life, Urrutia addressed the emotional impact of facing a diagnosis.

Paulina Urrutia recalled how, despite her initial resistance, she supported Augusto Góngora’s decision to register her illness. He reported the importance of sharing the diagnosis beyond the family nucleus, noting that making visible it can strengthen support networks and create more empathic communities.

“PRimero say that, in personal terms, I never decided to make that movie. I was a person who opposed until the end because it was an issue that was very delicate to assume, ”said Urrutia.

Also, she talked about the moments of uncertainty that led her to recognize the progress of the disease, such as the loss of the car that Augusto forgot where she had parked.

“Strangely when one sees the story of what dementias are, It costs us a lot. And there is a tendency to protect the person, And it is the family that wants to have the diagnosis and the person hiding it, ”added Slachevsky. “Many times the diagnosis announcement It is more painful for the family than the patient, But beyond who is more painful, I believe that the big problem is honesty. When one begins to build relationships with treating teams, With relatives based on lies, Not that I will not know why it will be depressed, In the end everything hinders, ”he said.

Andrea Slachevsky stressed that announcing a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s remains a difficult task for doctors, not only because of uncertainty in many cases, but also because of the emotional burden it implies. He explained that daily oblivion is normal, but that attention should be paid when memory failures affect daily functionality.

“We know that on the day Today we have no cure, We have no idea when Let’s have a cure and We are increasingly realized that they are diseases more complex, more heterogeneous And now we are seeing that Its forms They are more complex, But the fact that there is no cure It does not mean that there is treatment, ”said the doctor.

One of the most critical points was the reflection on the role of the caregiver, Andrea Slachevsky stressed that society must look at care as a collective responsibility, not just individual. Both agreed on the urgency of approveing ​​policies such as the National Care Planthat recognize the physical and psychological wear of those who accompany people with dementia.

“One of the pillars of support It is too worry about the caregiver, But I think The answer cannot only be to worry about the caregiver, The answer is rather social, ”said Slachevsky.

For his part, Urrutia, agreed with the expert, “we have personal responsibilities but this is a socio-sanitary problem, it is not a problem only medical, our society is getting old, taking care of older adults who are going to get sick and dying is something that we have to assume as a society,” he said.