I used to work in a facility with the highest rating of care required for Alzheimer’s and dementia like conditions and typically if well looked after they are not suffering. Yes some do get scared and confused but with medication and skilled workers you can minimize that type of suffering. What ends up often happening is family feels guilty placing their loved ones in such a facility and instead struggle and eventually burn out. At that point they may already be short with the person and yes they truly are suffering. But a well trained staff can really help reduce such interaction through distraction and conversation or music and medications. There are even now in the world dementia villages where people don’t actually know they are in a facility and they can wonder around because the entire thing is fenced off but looks normal with shops and places they can go to. Usually the person who is suffering is the family who can no longer manage the 24/7 care required. And that is not a poor reflection on them it takes a lot of mental drain to deal with a person ask you the same thing 300 times a day.
I apologize for my pointed accusation. I did indeed experience the difficulties of at-home care, it can be too much for a few loved ones to manage. The training isn't there. I think you paint the overall picture well from experience. I'm glad to hear that the average case of dementia, when properly looked after, can be milder on the person than I imagined.
No need to apologize I can tell you experienced a heavy burden caring for your loved one. Alzheimer’s is an evil disease. It is unfair. It can take the most loving person and test them to the limit. I now advocate for anyone in a situation of caring for an Alzheimer’s patient to really be honest to themselves if they are feeling burnt out and to seek help before things get too bad. When I was in that job I got to go home at the end of my shift and unwind but for many that is not an option. The cost of care where I worked started at $4500 per months something not everyone can afford. It truly is a horrible situation but there are some of us who really did our best to provide some peace to patients and families. I wish you well today and hope you realize you are a good person. That is why it was so hard for you because it is truly hard to see a loved one in that state.
I want to thank you sincerely for the care you provide to patients and for the solace you afford families. You are appreciated in what you do by many.
I would also like to ask - based on your experience, is there a piece of hardware or software that doesn't exist that would improve the lives of the patients and families? Voice activated, visual UI, thermal sensing, motion sensing, etc, anything you could think of. Any human-machine interaction paradigm.
