The importance of love and warmth in Alzheimer's care homes

Sunday, 13 December 2009

Tireless Alzheimer's campaigner Gerry Robinson has made it his mission to visit a number of residential homes for Alzheimer's sufferers, initially motivated by the fact that his father had Alzheimer's when he died.

A two-part documentary co-produced by the Open University takes a look at Gerry's findings as he conducts his tour of the various care homes.

This is what Gerry has to say: "I'm hoping the programme will make people realise that, in dementia care homes, it isn't the quality of the curtains or the colour of the carpet or even the fact that it doesn’t smell that are important.

"Those aren't the things that matter. What matters is the loving care that is given.

"When people are angry and frustrated and they shout, sometimes strike out, that is not the dementia. That's the frustration that goes with not being heard.

"Our assumption is that dementia has all these characteristics. It really, really doesn’t."

As care homes are run as a business enterprise, the impetus to make good profits may well be the leading motive. There's a high profit margin for care homes of 30 per cent - and there are a quarter of a million older residents in the UK.

Gerry wonders whether good care needs to cost much money - after all love and warmth are free to give and pays off well in the long run. As Gerry says: "If you run a home very successfully then the economics also work for you because people want to leave their loved ones there."

A good example of a well run and warm and loving care home was where all the staff were trained and encouraged to stop whatever whatever they were doing whether in the office, kitchen or dining room, and attend lovingly to any individual resident's needs. This ethos was spread throughout the home and was encouraged by the manager himself a loving, happy and smiley person. It has been said that a home is only as good as its manager - and the personal values of that manager.

One resident visits his wife who has Alzheimers every afternoon until late evening come rain or shine. She looks forward to her husband's visits and he regards her as a very special person and not just an Alzheimer's sufferer. Needless to say, she is thriving in every way and it's delightful to watch how she and her husband communicate so closely and warmly, and how the ethos of the home encourages this warmth.

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