Funding for a million dementia volunteers

Thinking back to my time working in a psychiatric unit, doesn't it take many years of training for a psycho-geriatrician to qualify as a doctor, then a psychiatrist and then develop their skills with older age group, in order to accurately diagnose the difference between straightforward depression and dementia-related depression?
I always say to people who are worried about older relatives - ask for a referral, GPs don't have the time or skills to tell the difference.

crimson have a look at this.
Like many conditions, much more is now known about management and even prevention. You may be worrying unnecessarily.
I agree with jess, see your GP if you are concerned.

Even if all this initiative brings about is a change of attitude and a little more kindness to older people who are struggling, I think it will be a winner.

On my Mum's side of my family there is quite a bit of dementia which I think is at least circumstantial evidence that there is heredity involved.

I spent the afternoon with my Mum, who seems to have plateaued (is that a word?) at the nasty stage. Today I was berated for not telling her that her parents were dead (40+ & 31 years ago!) just so I could have the money from the sale of the house.

oh kitty . jane; I work at a medical practice...it's open to debate whether or not anyone would notice if I was on the slippery slope. I think we'll use me as a sort of litmus test for how vigilant the medical profession is at spotting such things.

kitty that's so sad, I'm sorry.
crimson I like your sense of irony

The 'A' word was mentioned t'other day when I forgot to make someone a cup of tea, so I made them two cups today .

I think these 'volunteers' need to be very careful. Whatever their training, it's not always safe to approach someone who appears to be confused. How are they going to know if dementia is the problem and not drink or drug abuse?

crimson

Or does it give someone untoward a good excuse to 'help' an elderly person at a cash point? Like 'I know I was standing quite close to them watching them put their pin number in but I wanted to be sure they knew what they were doing'.

crimson exactly the same thought crossed my mind the moment I heard about this plan.

I read that alongside this dementia friends thing, GPs are going to be expected to do memory tests whenever they see a patient over the age of 65 – in the 4-minute slots or whatever time is allowed. I'm not sure how often Mr absent has to see the doctor for his repeat prescriptions but it's certainly more than twice a year. Testing his memory each time seems excessive, not that he is over 65 yet. I find some of these cognitive tests incredibly boring and simply don't want to bother with them. It's not that I can't do them – or not only that I can't do them in some instances – it's that I don't want to. AND NO ONE CAN MAKE ME, so yah boo sucks.

absent we recently saw our solicitor to set up lasting powers of attorney for the DCs.
We had to see the senior partner as well as our usual solicitor, as you have to have two certificate providers.
After a bit of friendly chat he said ' Now I do have to check you are both compos mentis - er....let me see.... Who was the Prime Minister in 1832?'
Even more MrA knew the answer!

That's so funny jane. Thankfully I wasn't asked any such question when I was granted POA for mother's affairs.

I'd like to ask what prompted you to set up lasting POA for your DCs. We have been thinking about this for some time but haven't done anything about it yet. I think my brother has for his children.

janeainsworth Are we talking my favourite kind of tea?

merlot our financial advisor suggested it. The thing is, you do have to trust your children
It is different from the old enduring power of attorney which only kicked in when the donor did not have capacity to mange their affairs.
We could use it, for example, if we were both for any reason physically unable to do things like transferring money from a savings account to something else.
Those with POA always have to act in your best interests and within the Mental capacity Act and understand that if they don't, they can be held to account in the Court of Protection.
You can set up a health one as well, which is more expensive, and we didn't do that because we thought that it would be the DCs who would make decisions for us as next of kin anyway.
It's one if those things like having a properly drawn -up will, that can save you a lot of trouble further down the line, and we feel better for having done it.
Hope that helps

Thanks, jane. We trust our children but I think it's too soon. DH has had a stroke and I manage all our financial affairs but I don't think I need to relinquish my grip just yet. If anything happens to me no doubt DH will be happy to pass control over to them.

We have gone for POAs - we did do it ourselves, but did not see that as risky as the detailed advice on the form and website was very clear indeed. It is a bit complicated, especially there are lots of forms to be signed by lots of different people (each attorney, witnesses etc.) and it is essential that they are signed in the right order - I simply made a very detailed flow diagram for each of us and ticked things off as they were done.

We also managed to get a reduction of the fee of financial grounds - and applying for that was paretty complicated too.

We decided to do it when OH was diagnosed with PD - it brought home the fact that you really do not know what is around the corner. Also we both worked in health settings before we retired and knew how much easier things are when people have clearly made their wishes known before they became ill.

Where I live I am aware of the care my neighbours do need from time to time and during the winter months I do make an extra effort to make sure those who live on their own or have any problems are not short of anything they need or if I think maybe the warden should be informed of anything that is of a concern,the warden visits most of the apartments every day but sometimes the residents may be out shopping or fail to answer the door for one reason or another and as it is classed as supported housing the warden does not have the authority to make them answer the door if they are that way inclined on a particular day.
One neighbour has given us all reason for concern and she was taken into hospital two weeks ago for accessing on mental health grounds,she has been found to be 100% according to social workers and sent home again,when the ambulancemen walked her to her front door they couldn't but help notice the smell from her flat and refused to allow her to enter prior to social workers being called and an inspection of the flat undergone,they found all her bedding soaked in urine also her settee and chairs in the same condition,no food in the fridge or cupboards and dog and cat mess throughout the flat,response from social workers was that you cannot tell someone how to live,I agree with this but surely they should make sure this lady can cope which she surely can't,she has been back in hospital this past week and is now being released this pm,back to the same flat which has still not been cleaned or had heating on during the past week,we the neighbours will be the only people to check on this unfortunate lady over the week-end we are not trained in this sort of problem so where do we go from here,it's scary.

Judging by our experience with applying for some 'social care' support for MIL, you have to be pretty darn compos mentis to cope with the process these days.

janeits the same man who invented tea isn't it . Reform act.

That what I thought jeni (11.25) but I wasn't sure. Now I can give myself a pat on the back. Thanks.

Yes absent and jeni of course you are right, it's Charles, Earl Grey KG.
In fact an easy question for the inhabitants of Newcastle, as his monument towers above us at the top of Grey Street, voted Britain's best street by the listeners of the Today programme.
The inscription on the monument describes him as 'the constant advocate of peace and the fearless and consistent champion of civil and religious liberty'.
Sadly they don't make them like that any more

glamma what a difficult situation for you - does this lady have any relatives you can contact?

The lady concerned does have family on her supported list but they do not bother with her,when she moved here they just let her out of the removel van and took her clothes into her flat and have not been back since (18mths),she has had a very hard life apparently and her children went into care when teenagers so they feel they owe her nothing but sometimes we do not always know the reasons for actions like this do we and are sometimes quick to judge.
Up until now 5-45 there has been no sign of her so maybe the powers that be may have seen sence and kept her in the hospital or arranged for respite care I can't get to involved as the care services cannot discuss her care with me or any other neighbours due to "data protection" according to support workers but if anything happened to her would we then be thought of as uncaring neighbours as you always here of after the fact ??

This is fine in principle but all the emphasis is on helping people with Alzheimers as if this was the only cause of dementia. Sixty per cent of people with dementia do have Alzheimers, but 40 per cent of those with dementia have different types of dementia and the symptoms for these can be very varied, especially with some of the rarer causes.

I have looked after three people with dementia and all these have had vascular dementia. Although there are some similarities in the symptoms between vascular dementia and Alzheimers there are more differences and the assistance that needs to be given to people with the less common forms of dementia can be very different to those with Alzheimers.

This is what Dr Max Pemberton has to say in today's Telegraph. I must say the bit about the unqualified community support workers sounds rather scary.

I’M NO FRIEND OF THIS DEMENTIA PLAN
A new initiative, termed “Dementia Friends”, was announced last week by the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to much fanfare. Under the scheme, a million people will be offered training in how to identify the condition and provide support. There will also be a requirement on all health-care professionals to ask older people about their memory.
On the surface, this all sounds lovely. Actually, it made my blood boil. What is the point of asking about someone’s memory, and training members of the public to nod sympathetically, when the medical services for those with dementia are falling apart at the seams?
I have spent years working in older people’s mental health and dementia care, and have seen first hand the appalling level of under-investment that has gone into this branch of medicine. We already have plenty of community support workers who, in reality, are sent out in place of qualified professionals to check on patients and assess them. They’re doing their best, but they are not doctors.
In the last place I worked, the key workers had no health-care qualifications whatsoever. One was a former car mechanic and another was an unemployed nightclub manager. They were lovely people, but had not a smidgen of medical knowledge – yet they were seeing and assessing the medical needs of frail, vulnerable people.
This is happening up and down the country because such people are so much cheaper to employ than doctors or nurses.
It’s made worse because – unlike with any other chronic disease – dementia patients often find themselves falling under social services, rather than NHS services, meaning that they see a specialist once to get a diagnosis and never again. It is a travesty, and no one speaks out about what’s happening.
So don’t tell me, Mr Hunt, that we all need to be more understanding about dementia. It’s a meaningless, vapid sop to avoid the real changes and investment that needs to take place.