The senior has been charged with attempted murder and is being evaluated for mental retardation

A senior Rocky View County employee charged with attempted murder is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

On Jan. 31, Rhonda Campbell, 73, was charged with attempted murder after Cochrane RCMP responded to a local domestic disturbance.

Campbell's husband was seriously injured in the incident and taken to a Calgary hospital.

Campbell is currently undergoing a 30-day psychiatric evaluation to determine his fitness to stand trial.

His lawyer, Adriano Iovinelli, says dementia is behind the incident and is becoming a common problem in the justice system.

“We're seeing more and more of this because we have an older population in Calgary and also a lack of facilities where people with dementia are involved in the criminal justice system,” Iovinelli said.

“It's a tragic story … It's really a loving couple who have had a traumatic experience due to dementia.”

Iovinelli says Campbell's husband is doing well and is leaving the hospital to stay with friends.

The case follows a 2016 incident in which a demented Calgary man was found incompetent to stand trial for killing his wife.

Siegfried (Fred) Van Zuyden, then 86, was charged with second-degree murder after police found the body of his wife, Audrey, in their home.

Dementia is on the rise

A recent study by the Alzheimer's Society projected that in 26 years, more than 1.7 million people in the country may have dementia, a 187 percent increase from 2020.

Alberta has a significantly higher rate of dementia cases.

“Over the next generation, so over the next 30 years, we expect a 300 percent increase in the number of people diagnosed,” said George Andrews, president and CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories.

The study estimates that nearly 59,000 Albertans are currently living with dementia — a number expected to more than triple by 2050.

Andrews says dementia care needs to change as demographics change.

Although people of European descent are in the majority right now, by 2050 one in four cases will be among Asians, largely influenced by immigration.

“We have to help these people and we have to meet these people where they are. So we have to be culturally sensitive. We have to be ready for our health care system to accept some of these changes,” Andrews said.

Cindy McCaffert's husband is one of many Albertans living with dementia.

After seeing a lack of resources for early-onset dementia, she founded the support charity YouQuest.

The organization creates a space for people with dementia to engage in meaningful activities planned in collaboration with recreational therapists and volunteers.

“It's really important because if they're not well cared for, they can come in and start to decline very quickly. I've seen that with other families in our care support group,” McCaffert said.

McCafferth says the stigma surrounding the disease needs to be removed and more funding should be put into programs.

“I think once people understand that dementia is a symptom of brain disease, there shouldn't be a stigma. There's no stigma with liver disease or heart disease,” he said.

“It's not because they're trying to be different or difficult, it's because it takes a lot of time for their brains to work.”