Families of nursing home residents advised to pay more attention to their care

President of the Barbados Alzheimer’s Association Pamelia Brereton has suggested that Barbadians need to be more proactive and vigilant when placing their elderly family members in senior citizens’ homes.

Noting that she has received complaints from some people about bad treatment of their elderly relatives at nursing homes, Brereton said relatives had a responsibility to check out these facilities before admission and to check on their family members often after they got in.

“Check out the care home properly; don’t just decide to drop mom or dad off at any old care home. You have the right to check to make sure that the facility or institution is going to be able to provide the care that you are paying for,” she said at the Alzheimer’s Month seminar at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC) on Wednesday.

“A lot of people would call me sometimes and say, ‘I put them there, but yet they are not doing this, or they are not doing that’. But sometimes, I want to remind you, that is your fault because if you are putting someone in a care home and sometimes you are only going to visit that person once or twice a week or sometimes never, you expect them to get the care that you want them to get? So it’s important to make sure that when you put mom or dad in a home, you visit.”

Brereton said it was important for families caring for persons diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia to know what resources are available to them. Additionally, she said, caregivers should let their neighbours and people in their communities know if someone living in their household has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be shy, don’t hide it. I always say that people tend to hide their diseases, but in the end, you can’t hide death. So cut that out and start facing reality. Friends need to know; health facilities need to know; our polyclinics need to know; the hospitals need to know; the nursing homes need to know; the National Assistance Board, the Welfare Department, all these people need to know. 

“Family members also need to realise that . . . they will need a break; they will need some home help – a good daycare – for persons they are caring for; they would need trained personnel. Some people with Alzheimer’s go through seven stages, and we need to be aware of how the disease unfolds, which will help persons who are caregivers,” Brereton said.

She shared that dementia is now an epidemic worldwide, with 55 million people affected and experts predicting that number will increase to 155 million by 2050.

“The region itself has about 328 000, and by 2050 that is going to triple. More doctors will be needed and more nurses will be needed. This is one of the most heartbreaking diseases that I have ever witnessed,” she said.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Jehu Wiltshire highlighted the reality that the older people live, the greater their chance of developing dementia.

He said this was the reason behind the Government’s commitment to providing the necessary resources to meet the needs of an ageing population. 

(AH)