Lorraine Kelly: It’s time to start caring properly for old folk and those with dementia

SADLY we know all too well that some patients in what used to be called ‘old folks homes’ suffering from forms of dementia are neglected and the level of ‘care’ is simply unacceptable.

There are of course many care homes where management and staff go ‘above and beyond’ to ensure that sufferers are looked after in the best way possible.

But we only hear about the bad ones and there are far too many places where lack of funds, lack of staff and lack of training means those suffering from one of the cruelest diseases of all aren’t getting the correct care.

Now it appears that there has been a hidden problem right under our noses which is even more cause for concern and was brought to light this week by the Alzheimer’s society.

They have discovered that many men and women with dementia are being cruelly neglected – not just in care homes but actually in their own homes.

When families can’t cope but a patient can still live at home, professional care is needed to ensure they are healthy and safe.

We all know there is lack of money due to spending cuts and elderly people with diseases like Alzheimer’s are at the bottom of a very long list of priorities, but this report makes particularly grim reading. The Alzheimer’s society discovered four in 10 care workers don’t have sufficient training and that patients were even being left without food and correct medication.

There is also a real worry that busy, overworked carers who are under enormous pressure, simply don’t have time to chat or interact with those they are supposed to be looking after and can treat them like “objects”. Heartbreaking.

It must be tough enough to see someone you love deteriorate and to lose them bit by bit and day by day to this disease, but the guilt and upset caused when they are not being properly looked after must tear families apart.

In an ideal world, friends and loved ones would rally round and there would be no need for “professional” carers.

But here in the real world families are fractured and often scattered far and wide with sons and daughters having to move away because of work commitments.

Plus it’s extremely demanding and exhausting to look after anyone with dementia; so no wonder families need to turn to the professionals, but it is clear that too many are being let down.

We need proper funding and carers who are well trained and paid properly. We can’t have cases like the 86-year-old man who was found confused on a busy road because his harassed carer had forgotten to lock the door.

Also this week there was a disturbing report from Age UK, who reckon that almost a million elderly people don’t get the help they need to live at home.

A cash injection to have people visiting them at home – who can help them to get dressed and make sure they eat their meals, and just have the time to have a chat with them – would make all the difference in the world.

We will all grow old one day and we deserve to be treated like human beings with a kind word and compassion from people who look after us.

It’s about time carers were given the respect they deserve and the wages their job merits.

Then the elderly and vulnerable will get looked after properly.

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