The Alzheimer Society of Manitoba is hosting it's 5th annual day of learning Saturday, for family and friends caring for a person with dementia.

Maria Mathews is the Manager of Family Education for the Alzheimer Society. She explains the Care4U Conference offers different strategies on how to cope as caregivers and help in learning how to adapt communication or activities of daily living to help empower those living with dementia and ease the high level stress that comes with being a caregiver.

Currently in Manitoba, about 22,000 people are diagnosed with dementia. Mathews goes on to say that number is expected to nearly double by the year 2038, which she says is reflective of the again Baby Boomer generation. Around 4,400 people were diagnosed in 2014 alone. She adds these statistics were the driving force behind the creation of the Care4U conference.

Between 300 and 350 people attend the Care4U conference each year, making it one of the biggest event of its kind in Manitoba. Mathews adds on average, three-quarters of attendees are there for the first time. She notes feedback has been overwhelming.

"Conferences offer a lot of individuals the opportunity to seek information in a very anonymous fashion and sometimes that's a comfort also, to know that you can be one person in a room of three-hundred and fifty and no one really knows your story."

Care4U runs Saturday at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg.