Helga Rohra

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Helga Rohra , b. Helga Anneliese Schüller, born April 19, 1953 in Transylvania , is a German dementia activist based in Munich . Helga Rohra was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia at the age of 54 . In 2014 she received the German Engagement Prize for her commitment to the rights of people with dementia .

biography

Helga Rohra was born in Transylvania and came to Munich as an emigrant via Nuremberg in 1972. She completed training as an interpreter with the languages ​​English, French and Italian. As a freelance interpreter, she specialized in medical topics and worked at congresses and meetings. After noticing increasing problems with wording and finding words, she was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in 2009 . She lives in Munich with her adult son.

Dementia activist

Helga Rohra describes herself as a dementia activist. Her way there began in a self-help group of the Alzheimer Society in Munich and led her through first interviews and a book contribution, which she still published under a pseudonym, on her role as the most well-known activist in Germany affected by dementia for "a change in awareness on the subject of dementia" as she puts it on her own website.

In 2010, Mabuse-Verlag published her book Stepping Out of the Shadow , which she wrote together with a writing assistant. This book is in conjunction with On the Path to Alzheimer's. How to live with dementia by the Munich entrepreneur Christian Zimmermann (* 1950; † 2015) the first publication of people with dementia in Germany in which they themselves take a position on the disease.

From 2010 to 2014, she was the first person affected to be a board member of an Alzheimer's society , the Alzheimer Society in Munich. With the support of the German Alzheimer Society, she took part in Alzheimer Europe conferences, where she was able to represent those affected and get to know people from other countries affected by dementia. Together they founded the European Working Group of People with Dementia in 2012 , a self-organized interest group based on the Scottish Dementia Working Group , a Scottish state-sponsored initiative to represent interests only by those affected. The European Working Group of People with Dementia meets two to three times a year in Brussels or Luxembourg and develops recommendations for Alzheimer Europe. Helga Rohra was the founding chairperson of this group and was re-elected as chairperson for another two years in October 2014. For the 2018–2020 session, she works for Societatea Alzheimer Romania , the Romanian Alzheimer Society, in the European Working Group.

In 2014 she was awarded the German Engagement Prize.

Helga Rohra is often active as a speaker at national and international dementia congresses and conferences.

Publications

  • Step out of the shadows. Why I stand up for our rights as a person affected by dementia . Mabuse, 2011, ISBN 978-3-940529-86-2 .
  • Yes to life despite dementia! Why I fight . medhochzwei, 2016, ISBN 978-3-86216-283-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Helga Rohra: Step out of the shadows. Why I stand up for our rights as a person affected by dementia . Mabuse, 2011, ISBN 978-3-940529-86-2 .
  2. ↑ The team. In: anywayenz.de. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015 ; Retrieved December 12, 2015 .
  3. ↑ helgarohra.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015 ; accessed on December 13, 2015 .
  4. ^ Christian Zimmermann, Peter Wissmann: On the way with Alzheimer's. How to live with dementia . Mabuse, 2010, ISBN 978-3-940529-90-9 .
  5. ↑ deutsche-alzheimer.de. Retrieved December 12, 2015 .
  6. ↑ alzheimer-europe.de. Retrieved December 12, 2015 .
  7. ↑ sdwg.org. Retrieved December 12, 2015 .
  8. ↑ deutsche-alzheimer.de. Retrieved December 12, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Rohra, Helga
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schüller, Helga Anneliese (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German dementia activist
DATE OF BIRTH April 19, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Transylvania