Sunday morning. I appear to have arisen with a cold. This is apparent in the sore,dry throat,the sniffling and the constant sneezing,not to mention the thudding head and bleary eyes. I thought at first it was hay fever but the anti-histamines are not removing it so it definately looks like a cold. Ah well the best way to deal with a cold is to work it off,so looks like a busy day.
I watched a programme last night,fictional but as with most American police/forensics programmes nowadays more than a touch of reality is portrayed in them. This one was about Elder abuse. I may have mentioned before that I have studied Elder abuse, I did it as part of my NVQ in nursing care. At that time I worked in a private nursing home,and we also did respite care,giving those that looked after their parents/grandparents a break once every so many months. This was what got me into Elder abuse in the first place,it was only natural that I study it to find out the whys and wherefores.
Can you imagine taking a cigarette and deliberatly stubbing it out on a person,an old or very young person? Elder abuse is no different to child abuse,in effect most of the old people that are abused are very childlike. They are usually suffering from some kind of dementia. This does not just happen with home carers, though it does seem to be those that are targeted. There is abuse going on in many nursing/care homes. While the majority of nurses/carers are good at their job and do genuinely care for the people that are placed with them. There are those that are the opposite,it is just a job,and they are the ones in charge.
Old people can be very cantankerous,and when they have dementia they can be many times worse. The problem is that with dementia they are confused and they dont often have short term memory,so in effect they dont know you from one day to the next,only with repetition do they get to know that you are there often. Sometimes when they have had a stroke they lose the ability to speak very well. It has always fascinated me how this is connected to them no longer being able to think? Just because someone can no longer speak does not mean that the mind is not still working.
A case in point. I looked after a lady,she bit and scratched when the staff tried to wash and dress her,when they tried to toilet her,when they tried to bath her. The only time she didn`t bite or scratch or spit,was when she was being given afternoon tea. They assigned her to me ( They always gave me the difficult ones) I spent a week observing her,and then took over. She scratched me only once and she never bit me. Why was she different? Because I asked her if she wanted me to wash her or if she wanted to do it. I explained to her what I was doing if I had to do anything before I did it. I brought clothes from the wardrobe and let her choose what she was going to wear that day. Often talking her round to something else if the clothes didn`t match and would have looked wrong together. The point is I did not just do things. It was quite simple really. She lashed out because she was scared and humiliated. Once it was put on her notes how she was to be treat,anyone could look after her and she was a sweetheart.
The problem is that it should be common courtesy to do these things as a matter of course.
OK down off the soapbox.
It looks like today promises to be as beautiful as yesterday,and if they come and pick up the Junior Cyclone early enough I might get to go study outdoors for a while. And if not well I will probably get more done by staying in.
Right break over back to it
I hope you all enjoy your Sunday.
