Malta lacks carers qualified to look after people with dementia and many healthcare professionals do not fully understand the condition, according to Malta Dementia Society co-founder Charles Scerri.
The carers tending to elderly people in residential homes are “definitely not qualified” to care for dementia sufferers, with many admitting they had to learn from experience, Dr Scerri said.
“Experience is no qualification, training is. And, through research, we found that carers are not the only people who lack knowledge on how to care for people with dementia.
“It’s also healthcare professionals, such as doctors and nurses. Most of them have no inkling on what dementia is and how to manage it, both from a medical and a social aspect.”
Dr Scerri explained that, in contrast to “normal” elderly people, dementia sufferers required a different form of care. He could not give a figure but knows that a high percentage of people living in homes for the elderly suffered from dementia.
Currently, 1.2 per cent of the population are dementia sufferers. A recent study showed that there will be over 7,000 people suffering from dementia by 2025, the figuring shooting up to 13,000 by 2050.
Dementia is an umbrella term that refers to a number of different medical disorders characterised by a progressive decrease in cognitive functions, such as memory loss and deterioration in planning and organisational skills, accompanied by personality change.
Although dementia is far more common in the geriatric population, an elderly person does not automatically have dementia.
“Many people think that people with dementia exaggerate their ailments. This is completely untrue. Medically, were you to look at the brain of a person with dementia you’ll find a crumbling, tortured brain. Many of the zones are literally dead. If these zones die, automatically the functions the zones controlled will also fail to operate. That is why adequate training is vital,” Dr Scerri stressed.
There are initiatives that are being undertaken: the Malta Dementia Society holds regular talks and courses and the Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital houses a memory clinic. The University of Malta will be launching a basic dementia caregiver course in May.
In countries such as the UK and Australia, people are not allowed to work with dementia sufferers without having adequate formal training.
“However, Malta is not completely lagging behind when compared to some other countries. At least, we have tentatively drafted a national dementia strategy, which is shelved somewhere. Very few countries actually have one.”
Why hasn’t it been pub-lished yet?
“There are parts of the strategy that call for a certain degree of investment and, so, money is needed.”
Dr Scerri stressed the importance of having a dementia-friendly environment, such as doors that open when two buttons are simultaneously pressed to prevent people from wandering out and getting lost.
The inability to communicate also means that dementia sufferers require specialised care. Being presented with a full plate of food only serves to confuse them and they neglect to eat it. They also fail to speak up if thirsty, which can lead to dehydration.
Dr Scerri pointed out that one of the ways of helping caregivers look after people with dementia was that of providing them with structures that would help them from within the community.
“Respite care is not well developed in Malta. These people are caring for their patients 24/7, especially relatives who look after their loved ones at home. They need space and time to rest or else they suffer extreme burnout.”
The UK believes that the growing problem of dementia will lead to the collapse of its entire health system. As elderly people live longer and medicine becomes more innovative, it also becomes more expensive. People need more services, including more pensions and more surgery procedures.
“It is the workforce that is sponsoring these activities. And, as the birth rate declines, so does the working pool paying for the services. In Europe, a person with dementia costs the State €22,000 a year. The most expensive care is the formal one provided by the State, such as hospitals and homes. The cheapest way of dealing with it is community care, which is why caregivers need to be supported from within the community.
“Politicians need to look ahead and set about seriously addressing this problem,” Dr Scerri advised.