Ms. Dundeen Ferguson
Ms. Dundeen Ferguson is an Attorney-at-Law, Lecturer, and a Social Activist who advocates for non-violence against women and for the health and well-being of persons living with disabilities. Dundeen founded Alzheimer’s Jamaica shortly after her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2001. She felt a need to connect with other families in Jamaica who had loved ones living with dementia. She also wanted to facilitate education and resource sharing focused on how to care for loved ones living with the disease, to advocate Alzheimer’s Disease being a national health priority for the Jamaican government, and to raise awareness for families and members of the community about wandering behaviours that people living with the disease show. She learned from Keith Turner, a Chiropractor who had the disease that he was not “suffering” from Alzheimer’s disease but “living” with it. The day he shared those words with her changed the way she stepped forward advocating for persons living with Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias. She has co-authored an article in the Caribbean Journal of Social Work entitled The Complexity of Dementia Care: A collective case study of three caregivers in Jamaica. She lives between Canada and Jamaica.