University of Auckland Centre for Brain Research neuroscientist Sir Richard Faull and neuropsychologist Dr Makarena Dudley brought their roadshow about mate wareware (dementia) to Murihiku Marae last month to talk about how it affects older people and what could be done to help.
The hui was organised by Alzheimers Society Southland board member Andrea Jerry Ryan and about 100 people from Southland attended.
Sir Richard said it was important to engage with Māori where they felt comfortable, in the setting of a marae.
"For Māori because of their cultural differences, we need to help them in their way.
"We need to embrace tikanga Māori and this is what it’s about — doing things the Māori way with Māori; that’s why we have Māori researchers on the field, and we go out into the field with them."
Sir Richard said dementia not only affected the ones who had it but also their carers, who were mostly made up of friends and family.
He said the responsibility to care for someone with dementia was immense and there needed to be better options for respite care available.
Dr Dudley had helped develop an app for Māori on how to support Māori with dementia.
The app suggested ways to minimise the impact of dementia, prevention measures and how to check things like blood pressure.
Sir Richard said the response to the hui was huge and they would return to Bluff’s Te Rau Aroha Marae in April.
