Robert Eshelby will retire today, after thirty-three years of service to Dementia Care.
What does he feel about recent government policy statements announcing a drive to find a dementia cure by 2025?
Robert: We have known about the demographic time bomb since the early 1980’s, when successive governments have failed to step up to the challenge. Although there has been a drive recently to acknowledge the huge cost of caring for people with dementia, I’m afraid that there has been very little extra money available to meet people’s needs for proper care.
What about the Health Minister’s recent promise to beat Dementia by 2025? Is this realistic?
Robert: Unfortunately, ‘dementia’ is a term which covers several different conditions. Alzheimer’s is the most well-known and, so far, we seem to be able to identify it but not to cure it. There are medications, such as Aricept, which will slow down its progress, but no more.
These medications do not work on the other major cause of dementia, which is Vascular Dementia. This is caused by bleeds in the brain or oxygen starvation to the brain. It would seem that vascular dementia could be largely avoided by healthier lifestyles, including good diet and exercise to reduce blood pressure. I think that all people should think hard about these matters if they want to avoid vascular dementia.
As for Alzheimer’s, I think we will have to leave that to the scientists and hope that they will find solutions before too long.
What kind of care should we be looking for if one of our family or friends gets Dementia?
Robert: At St. Cecilia, we focus on the individual and not the illness. We need to know something of our residents’ past lives, because that is always relevant to their care, but we try to look through the presenting behaviour to the person behind it.
We believe that love, kindness and respect create contentment in our residents. If we can maintain calm and contentment at St. Cecilia, then it becomes self-perpetuating. We do not challenge behaviours and we do not try to change them. Creating a calm, supportive environment will help our residents to live positive lives, away from criticism and constraint.
In short, people with dementia need a good, comfortable home with healthy, sustaining food. They need non-judgmental care from well-trained, experienced carers. They need to be allowed to be themselves in an accepting world. They need as little medication and as much love as possible.
Find a care home which follows these lines, or create such an atmosphere for your loved ones in your own home, and dementia will cease to be a problem or a disaster. It will always mean a change, but will be less of a challenge.
What does he feel about recent government policy statements announcing a drive to find a dementia cure by 2025?
Robert: We have known about the demographic time bomb since the early 1980’s, when successive governments have failed to step up to the challenge. Although there has been a drive recently to acknowledge the huge cost of caring for people with dementia, I’m afraid that there has been very little extra money available to meet people’s needs for proper care.
What about the Health Minister’s recent promise to beat Dementia by 2025? Is this realistic?
Robert: Unfortunately, ‘dementia’ is a term which covers several different conditions. Alzheimer’s is the most well-known and, so far, we seem to be able to identify it but not to cure it. There are medications, such as Aricept, which will slow down its progress, but no more.
These medications do not work on the other major cause of dementia, which is Vascular Dementia. This is caused by bleeds in the brain or oxygen starvation to the brain. It would seem that vascular dementia could be largely avoided by healthier lifestyles, including good diet and exercise to reduce blood pressure. I think that all people should think hard about these matters if they want to avoid vascular dementia.
As for Alzheimer’s, I think we will have to leave that to the scientists and hope that they will find solutions before too long.
What kind of care should we be looking for if one of our family or friends gets Dementia?
Robert: At St. Cecilia, we focus on the individual and not the illness. We need to know something of our residents’ past lives, because that is always relevant to their care, but we try to look through the presenting behaviour to the person behind it.
We believe that love, kindness and respect create contentment in our residents. If we can maintain calm and contentment at St. Cecilia, then it becomes self-perpetuating. We do not challenge behaviours and we do not try to change them. Creating a calm, supportive environment will help our residents to live positive lives, away from criticism and constraint.
In short, people with dementia need a good, comfortable home with healthy, sustaining food. They need non-judgmental care from well-trained, experienced carers. They need to be allowed to be themselves in an accepting world. They need as little medication and as much love as possible.
Find a care home which follows these lines, or create such an atmosphere for your loved ones in your own home, and dementia will cease to be a problem or a disaster. It will always mean a change, but will be less of a challenge.
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