Page 1904 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 16 June 1993
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DEMENTIA CARE
MS ELLIS (12.11): Madam Speaker, I move:
That this Assembly notes the inadequate funding for dementia care in the ACT and support services for carers of dementia sufferers. This Assembly calls on the Government to negotiate with the Federal Government to:
(1) alter and increase the funding formula for dementia care facilities; and
(2) provide funding as a matter of urgency for increased dementia care facilities in the ACT which include adequate provision of respite care beds for dementia sufferers usually cared for in a home environment.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of this Assembly, and hopefully the wider community, the desperate need for all governments in this country, but particularly the Federal Government, to address the issue of appropriate care for people who suffer from dementia and support services for the carers of dementia sufferers. Dementia can be one of the mysteries we all hope we never need to understand or concern ourselves with. Those of us not involved with the day-to-day care of people with dementia tend not to understand or concern ourselves with the extent to which this illness not only affects the sufferers but also permeates the lives of carers and other family members. I am sure that at different times we may come across an article in a magazine or a newspaper outlining the plight of some poor soul struck by this terrible disorder. The occasional documentary on television brings it home to us, even if only for the duration of the program; but it is very easy, and far more comfortable for us, to turn off our concern when we turn off the television.
Dementia is an illness which, in its more advanced stages, requires constant 24-hour care of the sufferer. The illness is insidious and makes caring for the sufferer emotionally and physically exhausting. The parent you know so well does not know you any more. Sufferers cannot remember whom they have just seen or spoken to. They are not sure whether they have just eaten, just washed, or just dressed. You can no longer reason with them or explain much to them. More seriously, Madam Speaker, they may turn on the gas stove but forget to light it, and then even forget that they were planning to use it. Any level of intellectual enjoyment or achievement which they once enjoyed is lost. This is the world of dementia sufferers, and it is the behaviour that close family members and friends have to cope with every hour of every day. It is also the behaviour that staff of hostels have to deal with when their facilities, skills and staffing levels can barely cope. Dementia sufferers, however, are generally physically healthy and may even be fortunate enough to enjoy, to some degree, a physically active life - not the sort of lifestyle that is available in nursing homes for frail aged.
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