This is a photo of me sitting on ‘Nine Arch Bridge’ in Demodara Sri Lanka. Also called ‘the Bridge in the Sky’, it was built entirely by local labour and completed in 1919 despite a shortage of steel that was reallocated to World War I efforts. People rallied together to build the bridge with stone bricks and cement. What struck me most about Sri Lanka was their warmth and sense of community, and how everyone looked out for each other.
The buzz around Chris Hemsworth’s documentary A Road Trip to Remember continues as he touches more lives and offers new hope to people who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and their families.
If you haven’t yet seen the film, here’s the link to the trailer. It is currently streaming on Disney+.
In the meantime, click here to listen to my ABC interview at the preview screening of the documentary, and watch my conversation about Reminiscence Therapy on Channel 7’s Weekend Sunrise here.
The overriding message from the documentary — which is supported by decades of research in psychology, neurology and public health — is that people are more powerful than pills. Supportive social relationships can do what no drug has yet been able to accomplish. Warm friendships, meaningful conversations, and a sense of belonging strengthen the brain’s resilience. They stimulate memory, boost mood, and help preserve the abilities people value most.
Why is this?
Human contact activates multiple parts of the brain at once — areas involved in language, emotion, attention, and problem-solving. Sharing stories requires memory. Laughing together lowers stress hormones. Feeling understood and valued increases motivation and confidence. These experiences encourage the brain to stay active in a way that medication simply cannot replicate.
For a person living with dementia, having a confidante — someone who listens without rushing, who helps make sense of the world — can be life-changing. Friendships maintain identity: they remind someone who they are beyond their diagnosis. Participation in community activities, whether a choir, a church group, or a neighbourhood gathering, provides rhythm, purpose, and joy. These are not small comforts; they are essential forms of cognitive nourishment.
The most effective ‘treatment plan’ is not put together in a pharmacy or doctor’s surgery, but in the living rooms, cafés, and community centres where real connection happens.
If you want to support someone with dementia, start with presence. Offer conversation. Share a meal. Invite them in. In the end, it’s the human bond — not a bottle — that most powerfully protects the mind.
Please share this Health-e-Byte with anyone who knows someone with dementia — and who wants to enrich their own life.
