Call for better dementia support
A dementia researcher is calling for better support for people dying with the disorder, saying it should be treated as a terminal illness, ABC News has reported.
Adelaide University Professor Jenny Abbey says most carers have little or no training in dealing with the terminal stages of dementia.
She says patients with late-stage dementia are often more aware than people realise and may be suffering more than is necessary.
Professor Abbey told a gerontology conference in Hobart that more needs to be done to prepare carers and aged care workers.
“If carers are exposed to what it’s going to be like when their person becomes unable to eat and drink, when they do have body breakdown, when they do get to the point when they don’t recognise anybody etc., rather than that being distressing it prepares the carers for what’s to come and then they can cope with it much more,” she said.
“There’s an awful lot we need to do to prepare carers, there’s an awful lot we need to do to prepare residential aged care staff.
“For example we have things like orders for no food and fluid, a difficult area which needs to be introduced very carefully but there are the kind of things that need to be introduced in terms of clinical management.”
