FAMILIES?OF?PEOPLE suffering with Alzheimer’s or dementia need to get educated, says Pamelia Brereton, president of the Barbados Alzheimer’s Association, who was commenting on the recent disappearances of elderly citizens.
“What people have to understand, both family members and those in nursing homes, is what they are dealing with,” she said.
“Taking care of an elderly person and taking care of an elderly person with dementia are completely different. You can get an elderly person to take a bath, but a person who has dementia you cannot get them to take a bath. They’re going to give you all kinds of resistance, so you have to be knowledgeable enough to get them into the bath.”
Dementia is a condition that causes a decline in mental ability severe enough to affect memory, thinking behaviour and the ability to perform everyday activities.
According to Brereton there were ways to get people suffering with dementia to eat, bathe and be cooperative, but that came with education.
“Barbados is No.2 in the world behind Japan in terms of ageing population. That’s why we’re trying to educate Barbadians on what to expect because it’s only going to get worse,” she said.
Dealing with an elderly relative with Alzheimer’s or dementia often requires a shift in lifestyle for everyone involved.
“In terms of them wandering away, persons with dementia don’t just wander away,” Brereton said. “They live in the past. A lot of times when they walk away because they live
so much in the past, they’re going to work. So when they walk away like that, the first thing you should always do is look for the places they would frequent when they were younger.”
Brereton also stressed the importance of securing the premises where elderly people are residing.
“The walls have to be a certain height because they do scale the walls,” she said. “How an old person gets over those walls I don’t know, but they can move like lightning.”
Along with securing environments, Brereton said having the right attitude was important.
“They need to be more caring, tolerant, patient and understanding,” she said.
“Most of the time it’s not the elderly person causing the problem, it’s the person caring for them. They can’t adjust to you but you can adjust to them. It’s a hard thing to do but you have to do it for peace of mind.
“We need to remember that we might get to that point in our life and you know the saying what goes around comes around, so you have to be considerate of that person,” said Brereton.
