Massachusetts is the only state to establish a committee to aid hospitals in developing a comprehensive plan for addressing the needs of patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s. A hospital stay can be traumatic for someone with Alzheimer’s and speed their decline often losing abilities they had, like dressing themselves and walking, before their hospital admission. The committee, formed in 2016, released a 70 page report with resources and suggestions.
Dementia patients often need hospitals, which are often ill-prepared
by Felice J. Freyer | Boston Globe
Steve Johanson had a fierce and knowledgeable advocate at his side when he visited a hospital recently: his wife, Judy. In the six years since Steve had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, she had immersed herself in understanding the illness and preparing for its consequences.
But even so, the hospital stay to adjust Steve’s Alzheimer’s medication was a nightmare. In the emergency room, nurses briskly took his vital signs, oblivious to his confusion. When he became upset, the staff didn’t seem to understand why.
“I felt like we were aliens that had just landed in a place that had no idea of the language we spoke and no concept of the disease my husband had,” Judy Johanson said. [read entire article]
