My mother, who lived with dementia, was chemically and physically restrained every day for the forty-five months she lived in a dementia jail (aka a long-term care facility or nursing home).
These restraints could have been avoided if the medical personnel in charge of her care had addressed the root causes of the behaviours they found challenging in her. All they needed to do was to take a closer look at what was going on around Mom. If I could do it, surely they should have been able to.
When Mom was sedated, she was unable to do things she loved to do such as walking and singing. Here she is not singing (because she had been sedated an hour or so before), at some of the weekly sing-alongs conducted by volunteers at the place she resided:
Besides cruelly sedating her with antipsychotic drugs, no one who was involved with my mother’s care listened to my request to provide her with music therapy. So I hired a music therapist myself and the three of us enjoyed many happy afternoons together after the worst sedative effects of the chemical restraints had worn off. Here’s an example of one of those wonderful sessions:
And this one was just four days before Mom died on August 17, 2016:
I miss you Mom.
50 more pics that prove my mom was neglected and abused in long-term care
four years later is too late for my mom. but it’s not for others.
alzheimer disease didn’t do this. drugs and dementia jail did
25 practices long-term care workers know are elder neglect and abuse; it’s time to put a stop to it
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My Alzheimer's Story 