Carer support is key for husband of dementia sufferer

1, Jul, 2009

Caring for a loved one with dementia can be an isolating experience.

Patients may experience changes in their personality and in the later stages of the disease can forget friends and family.

Graham Blacker has cared for his wife Anne since she was diagnosed with dementia almost four years ago.

Mrs Blacker, 73, is in the final stages of the disease and lives at the family home in Bathwick.

Her 63-year-old husband said: “I had been anticipating it for a long time, and when she was diagnosed I wondered how I would be able to cope.

“The support we have received has been good, especially the nurses at the Peggy Dodd Centre.”

The centre provides care and support for people and their carers with Alzheimer's disease and other memory loss illnesses.

Based in Summer Lane in Combe Down, the centre helps give shape to the week for people with the disease.

It provides a day care centre, and a service, where volunteers visit sufferers in their homes and sit with them.

Chair Martha Flower said: “The centre provides help and rest for the carers who are under a lot of pressure.

“We have also developed a lot of ways to make the time stimulating for the patients.

“There are a lot of fascinating people there, who have led interesting lives before they were struck down by the disease.

“More people are becoming aware of dementia now, which is good.”

Mrs Blacker is one of the many dementia sufferers who have benefited from the care shown by the centre.

Her husband said: “Anne goes to the day centre, and she is picked up and dropped off by a bus.

“At first she was uncertain about going there, but now she thoroughly enjoys it.”

A concert will be staged by the Bath Choral Society to raise money for the centre at Prior Park College on Sunday July 12 at 3pm.

The Bath Chronicle - along with other newspapers in the west - is highlighting the impact of the condition and the help available for sufferers and their families as part of a regional campaign.

Support is also available from the Research Institute for the Care of Older People (RICE), which is based at the Royal United Hospital.

It provides a memory clinic for patients who have been referred by their doctors.

During an hourlong session they are tested on their memory and speech, before a diagnosis is made.

Following the diagnosis staff at the centre liaise with other organisations to ensure that patients receives the care they need.

Relatives are helped by a carers’ course, which offers support and advice on how to cope.

Mr Blacker attended three of these sessions and says the support he received from other carers was very helpful: “The greatest benefit to me was meeting other carers.

“They were going through the same thing as me, and it was good to be able to talk to them.

“Anne is now in the final stages of dementia, but is still living at home.

“She recognises me, but not as her husband.”

Dr Jill Mann, who works at the centre, said: “The carers find it beneficial to meet other carers as it helps them to know that they are not alone.

“They all help each other to cope at what can be a very difficult time.”

NHS services currently on offer in Bath include a dedicated memory assessment, day care support and services, community nurses who are available at some GP surgeries to provide advice, support and care, and specialist mental health and social care services.

NHS B&NES has integrated itself with B&NES Council's health, social care and housing services to form the Health and Wellbeing Partnership.

It says this integration will allow services to become more easily accessible for patients and health professionals.

Dementia causes the gradual loss of mental abilities and usually affects older people.

About one in 20 people over the age of 65 will develop some degree of dementia.

For more information about the support available at RICE visit www.rice.org.uk.

To find out more about the Peggy Dodd centre call 01225 835520.