NEIL
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8399760.stm
Dementia care 'failing' the elderly
What I got from this article, was that it is about how the care of elderly people with dementia is failing. It says that Gerry (One of the two men who researched for this article) his father died of dementia and there for has experience into this area. he says we are "burring our heads in the sand" with the case of elderly dementia care. The article says how we want to believe that they are being cared for in homes night and day, which is far from the truth. I think that this is a key point because at the end of the article goes on, he uses experience to see how other care homes are dealing with dementia.
The article says how they visited a home, in Torquay, that had a adequate rating of care. but in spite of this he was shocked by things such as lack of training in staff, and is also surprised how there is no minimum standard of training required when working with elderly with dementia. It was also saying how he is worried that care homes don't have care as their number one priority.
In the article they say how they visited a home called Merevale in Warwickshire,he found out that residents seem to feel much happier in this home because the residents not only live they but they help to run it, so involving residents not only helps them on an emotional level, but it makes a good business too, and he recommended this to other care homes. He also discovered that it is no more expensive than residential homes, so what I got from that was that there is no explanation as to why other care homes aren't doing the same thing.
Another key point in this article is that he undergoes an experiment. He decided to turn a care home in Leicester called Summervale into the same style of place as Merevale. He did this by getting someone to come in and properly train the staff, getting rid of their uniforms, and making it into a more homey place.
He said he noticed an immediate impact, not only on residents, but on the staff too. And he said he was fascinated by how quickly the small changes effected the home.
The article says that these problems shouldn't just be "Brushed under the carpet" and people will have to continue trying before the problem gets fixed. I got from this article that, small changes make a big difference and that problems can be resolved with time, but dementia is a big issue when caring for the elderly and it is important for them to be treated in the right way, and by Gerry doing this experiment proves that elderly with dementia just need friendly faces and to be cared for the same as everybody else. I think this article links to the other two the I found, as if the elderly are being treated bad already without dementia. They will be treated chances are, worth if they have dementia in places such as hospitals, especially with the lacking of staff.
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