Editor:
Re: “Dementia patient waits nine months in hospital,” Coast Reporter, April 29.
Thanks to Sean Eckford for putting lack of dementia care in our community on the front page. I know at least four families who have experiences much like the Morrisons. My heart goes out to them. Dementia in all its forms is heart-wrenching enough without appropriate help when you need it. We were lucky. My mom had a year-long wait, but between her savings and a mortgage on our house, we managed private home care.
With the dementia storm coming, those of us who’ve been through the dementia care “system” wonder if it’s possible to rethink how we can use existing resources for maximum benefit right now until longer-term solutions happen. Necessity demands that dementia caregivers find creative solutions to the needs of their loved ones. Can’t we, as a community, apply such creative thinking to the hospital situation? Because the third floor is deemed acute care, rather than a holding place for dementia patients waiting for facility placement, staff doesn’t get trained for the needs of this disease and there is no program for mental/physical stimulation that is so essential to those who live there for elongated periods of time. Hard on the patients, families and staff! Perhaps designated “Temporary Dementia Care” until more facilities happen, staff could benefit from proper training and simple programs could be put in place to support patients, families and staff. Small perspective change. Small financial outlay. Perhaps wide-ranging effects? A bit of grace where it’s badly needed?
Every day of inadequate care ticks by all too glacially, and day after day grinds down even the most energized person. Those who look after dementia sufferers, personally and professionally, are courageous folks with huge hearts. I hope soon you’ll have more support for the rocky road you travel!
Anna Wright, Roberts Creek
