Are we doing right by our seniors when it comes to dementia care? Institutionalisation is the norm when it comes to caring for people with dementia. It’s a fancy word but the reality isn’t fancy at all. Basically, it means ‘locking them up.’
Earlier this year I visited the Netherlands as part of a study tour into the way dementia is dealt with elsewhere. I was stunned.
In the Netherlands people are enabled to ‘live’ with dementia, rather than ‘suffer’ from it. It’s not viewed as something elderly should be locked away for. Often people are supported to live in their own homes with wrap-around care and the use of technology to allow for a less restrictive lifestyle.
I visited a farm where people with dementia live in an 18th-century farmhouse; warm, dry and complete with mod-cons but with next to no ‘health and safety’ restrictions usually found in a New Zealand dementia institution.
They are free to enjoy the farm and all have a role to play in its daily operation. They tend to animals, chop wood, plant, harvest and prepare meals.
Although people are generally confined to the farm’s several hectares the use of GPS technology allows them to live a lifestyle that suits them; one man goes for a long run every day. They have a purpose in life and are contributing to society. Of course, there are trained carers running the place who support them.
If that sounds familiar it may be because I wrote recently about how Kerikeri Retirement Village is adopting a model of care called 'Spark of Life'. This gives all of our residents purpose and a sense of value. Often it involves giving them a meaningful role within our community.
I believe New Zealand needs to stop institutionalising people with dementia. We should adopt a fit-for-purpose national dementia care strategy based on the idea that people with dementia should be enabled to ‘live’ with it, rather than ‘suffer’ from it. The Dutch model shows clearly how beneficial this could be.
There’s also a very sound commercial reason for adopting a strategy along these lines. Instead of building ever-more ‘secure’ care wings in our rest-homes and hospitals we could be converting existing infrastructure – large houses, farms, small-holdings, lifestyle blocks – into dementia care facilities that restore the dignity and mana of our elderly.
To do this, though, we need to address our existing risk-averse mindset. For example, one of the boundaries of the Dutch care farm I visited is a stream. A stream?! That would never be allowed here.
With the number of people living with dementia set to rise significantly in New Zealand, it’s time we thought again about how we might do dementia care better.
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