Not prepared for this problem
Editor:
I'm sure most Coast residents know someone who has been touched by Alzheimer's disease. More than 70,000 people in B.C. have dementia. That's a lot of people, and it doesn't include the spouses, family members and friends whose lives are also affected.
As a community and a province we're not prepared to deal with this problem. An aging population of baby boomers means this problem will only get worse.
I have been a caregiver for nine years and belong to a caregivers' support group.
I, and all who share this difficult journey, are all too aware of the gaping hole in support services. On the Coast we have inadequate respite spaces (one for the entire Coast), inadequate home support services. Lack of services takes a toll on caregivers' health which results in not being able to keep our loved ones at home for as long as possible.
There is also a shortage of facility spaces. Our hospital is often clogged with "bed blockers." Yes, that's what they're called: our loved ones who can no longer live at home and are waiting for a facility bed. In hospital they take up costly acute care beds, the most expensive component of health care, sometimes for months at a time.
For those of us who are caregivers, action is long overdue. This crisis impacts not just us, but taxpayers who will have to pay the rising health care costs.
I join with thousands of others to back the BC Alzheimer's Society plan that includes: support for family caregivers, programs that help with early diagnosis, and training for health-care workers.
There's a B.C. election coming up. I hope readers will ask candidates where they stand on an adequately funded dementia plan that will ensure the right things get done.
Judith Fitzgerald
Gibsons
