There is a lot that can be done to make our stay in hospital easier

Hi it’s Tommy reporting.  I gave a radio and TV interview this week for 5Live about people with dementia in hospitals.  A person living with dementia’s own home can be very strange and disorientating, so you can imagine what it’s like to be in the hospital.  It is estimated that approximately 25% of beds in hospitals are occupied by people living with dementia.  Hospitals are run as if every patient has perfect intellectual function but hospitals are like a meat grinder for people with dementia it chews us up and spits us out.  Hospitals can be disorientating and frightening for a someone with dementia.  You’re waking up every day in a strange place surrounded by strangers, the person may not understand where they are or why they are there.And of course everyone assumes that all hospital staff know about dementia or the fact the person even has dementia; some may even lack experience of working with people with dementia.  It is important that all staff are aware of the persons dementia as it may affect the type or nature of medical treatment they receive. But there is a lot that can be done to make our stay easier, some of the worse things that happen to people with dementia in hospital is that they often become dehydrated because they do not drink enough water.  Putting a jug of water beside to a person with dementia means nothing, we may not recognise it as water – we don’t feel thirsty, we don’t feel hungry, so the hospital staff see the full jug of water and assume we aren’t thirsty and no records are kept of our intake so we start to dehydrate which then leads to delirium.  This delirium is then taken to be part of our dementia and how we act, but it’s not.  Delirium is a certain alteration in mental status often described as a state of extreme confusion.  Delirium can be caused by medication, urinary tract infection, lack of sleep, excessive light and noise or pain and an anaesthesia used in operations. When in hospital older people sometimes become acutely confused and disorientated.  Delirium and dementia are separate disorders but are sometimes difficult to distinguish.  Dementia affects mainly memory whereas delirium affects mainly attention. Not receiving stimulation and emotional support or being left isolated and alone can cause a person’s condition to worsen.  We all know staff are very busy and with not a lot of time to sit with the patient for long periods to talk to them or read to them, or do many of the things that a person with dementia needs to keep their condition from deteriorating.  But carers of people with dementia should be able to spend as much time as necessary with the person, whenever they need to do this, and should include staying 24/7 with the person with dementia if necessary.

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