I have the different experience of being a professional carer, with qualifications in dementia care and alzheimer's disease, as leader of the department and I adored my work. I loved the people I met, and had the pleasure of getting to know, and although this was towards the end of their lives, mine was the best job in the world. Sadly, I can see the pressure that caring alone can do on the 24/7 basis, with no assistant to step in when you get tired, and no break for a walk in the fresh air, either. Just to gather your thoughts about what you'll have for tea, or if you'll remember to give a friend a call who keeps getting put to the bottom of your pile of important things to remember. I can see the pain of exhaustion, and hear what happens when things go wrong. Changing the way our care system works is something I cannot really contribute to, as I am just one person, just like you. It must be possible for the system to be changed, when so many people are saying the same things. Yet, here we are in a civil society of 21st century Great Britain, and people are falling apart from the strain. We can all say how well we cope, how much we love having the togetherness and being there for each other, mostly on a "In Sickness and in Health" status, which marriage truly means. But, it should not mean this!! Loving someone can often mean letting them go, and often the care-home is the place to go. It's horrible. I know because I worked in one. BUT, I don't mean horrible care-home, I mean the break-up of a couple pulled apart by this cruel, evil disease when one half is faced with the horror that this disease can bring to the other half. Two lives destroyed in a blink of an eye, 50, 60 or even 70 years together, and then ........... It could make you shudder to think of it, given too much thought. Our Care System should not involve anyone selling their property to pay for their care. Otherwise how will the people who do not own property ever be cared for?!! The World is not an equal place, nor are anyone's lives. How one person lives their life is a matter of choice, and not everyone wants to buy property. Or, has the money to do so. I feel that there is sufficient people with this illness to warrant it being financed by a system that works for the people, not against them, as it currently does. It needs to go back to the drawing-board, and to start again. Destroy the current model which is broken, and to begin afresh with new ideas, new support & education, new financial system for which research can add to it too by employing scientists to dig deeper into the causes and effects. Developing treatments, preventatives, and cures should be simple if finance were not the big hiccup to it. I agree with keeping people safe and normally for their own safety and those closest to them. Allowing a free run would not be an ideal solution for confused people, living in a fearful way who don't recall meeting the same person the previous day. Music is a wonderful tool for people with this condition, it can soothe, it can help with memories, it is happiness-drug, and we all enjoy it. Dancing can be seen in people who never seem to do anything but shuffle. It can be amazing to see, and quite wonderful. The tables if turned around, would help show any committee or chief of this or that, just how it feels to be worn to threadbare by someone you love. If they had to face it, day in and day out, they would know. But, that is what's needed here, to help gain the financial backing required to give Good Quality Care & Support. I do go on, don't I, and I apologise. :)
Dementia Support Line
Gill
saysI have the different experience of being a professional carer, with qualifications in dementia care and alzheimer's disease, as leader of the department and I adored my work. I loved the people I met, and had the pleasure of getting to know, and although this was towards the end of their lives, mine was the best job in the world. Sadly, I can see the pressure that caring alone can do on the 24/7 basis, with no assistant to step in when you get tired, and no break for a walk in the fresh air, either. Just to gather your thoughts about what you'll have for tea, or if you'll remember to give a friend a call who keeps getting put to the bottom of your pile of important things to remember. I can see the pain of exhaustion, and hear what happens when things go wrong. Changing the way our care system works is something I cannot really contribute to, as I am just one person, just like you. It must be possible for the system to be changed, when so many people are saying the same things. Yet, here we are in a civil society of 21st century Great Britain, and people are falling apart from the strain. We can all say how well we cope, how much we love having the togetherness and being there for each other, mostly on a "In Sickness and in Health" status, which marriage truly means. But, it should not mean this!! Loving someone can often mean letting them go, and often the care-home is the place to go. It's horrible. I know because I worked in one. BUT, I don't mean horrible care-home, I mean the break-up of a couple pulled apart by this cruel, evil disease when one half is faced with the horror that this disease can bring to the other half. Two lives destroyed in a blink of an eye, 50, 60 or even 70 years together, and then ........... It could make you shudder to think of it, given too much thought. Our Care System should not involve anyone selling their property to pay for their care. Otherwise how will the people who do not own property ever be cared for?!! The World is not an equal place, nor are anyone's lives. How one person lives their life is a matter of choice, and not everyone wants to buy property. Or, has the money to do so. I feel that there is sufficient people with this illness to warrant it being financed by a system that works for the people, not against them, as it currently does. It needs to go back to the drawing-board, and to start again. Destroy the current model which is broken, and to begin afresh with new ideas, new support & education, new financial system for which research can add to it too by employing scientists to dig deeper into the causes and effects. Developing treatments, preventatives, and cures should be simple if finance were not the big hiccup to it. I agree with keeping people safe and normally for their own safety and those closest to them. Allowing a free run would not be an ideal solution for confused people, living in a fearful way who don't recall meeting the same person the previous day. Music is a wonderful tool for people with this condition, it can soothe, it can help with memories, it is happiness-drug, and we all enjoy it. Dancing can be seen in people who never seem to do anything but shuffle. It can be amazing to see, and quite wonderful. The tables if turned around, would help show any committee or chief of this or that, just how it feels to be worn to threadbare by someone you love. If they had to face it, day in and day out, they would know. But, that is what's needed here, to help gain the financial backing required to give Good Quality Care & Support. I do go on, don't I, and I apologise. :)