George is a man living with Alzheimer’s disease. He keeps active by getting out and about with his wife, walking, running and doing the shopping. George’s wife helps him to follow a healthy diet.
Transcript
[Beginning of recorded material]
George: My name is George. I used to be an accountant and retired having worked for Rio Tinto. I'm married to Shirley, and we have three children. They asked us to get the family together and for me to tell them that I had Alzheimer's, and I found that a little bit embarrassing at the time, but I got over it there.
[visual: George reads a book]
George: I joke about it a bit when I don't remember something I just say, "Well, I've got Alzheimer's."
[visual: George and Shirley go for a walk; George does the crossword puzzle]
George: In many ways, our lifestyle hasn't changed since I was diagnosed, Shirl has me out most days. We've always shopped together and I quite enjoy doing that with her.
[visual: George and Shirley unpack the shopping]
George: And we always manage to do a walk somewhere together – might go up the hills, might go to a restaurant. I think it's important to eat healthy foods, and she gives me a good diet. Shirl gives me an orange juice, which I quite like, and I like a lot of fruit.
[visual: George doing various exercises]
George: I use the exercise bike when it's raining, obviously, because I don't want to get wet running, but it's quite helpful. Occasionally, I have a little jog. The other day I went up to the oval and I did a light trot around the oval, which was enjoyable. I quite enjoy that, but I like to keep my legs going. I'd encourage anybody that has Alzheimer's to continue with the activities that they did before, which is what we're doing – we go shopping, I still do my little bit of running, I like reading, I like doing my crossword puzzles, which I've always done. These things are important, I think.
[Title card: With special thanks to George and Shirley.]
[Dementia Australia logo]
[Title card: National Dementia Hotline 1800 100 500. For language assistance call 131 450]
[Title card: Visit dementia.org.au]
[END of recorded material]
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