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(Photos submitted)

June is Seniors Month and the North Bay Regional Health Centre held their 3rd annual Seniors’ Education Day, to connect seniors and caregivers with services in the hospital and across the community.

One event saw Mayor Al McDonald and Health Centre president and CEO Paul Heinrich take part in an Alzheimer’s awareness exercise, which mimics the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

They put on blurred goggles, plastic gloves with rice in the finger tips, and headsets playing background noises.

Officials say it offers a glimpse into what it is like to live with the disease.

In a release, McDonald, who lost his grandfather to Alzheimer’s, commented how he felt anxious from the start, and the reality of not being able to understand what is being said, and not being able to hear or see properly hit home as he proceeded through the steps of the exercise.

Heinrich stated taking part in the exercise helped him understand even more clearly how important it is to have empathy and patience with people who suffer from this disease.

The Alzheimer Society of Canada estimates nearly 15 per cent of Canadians 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and this figure is predicted to increase as the population ages.

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