- Image by M@rg via Flickr
New research from the US suggests that emotions triggered by events can endure longer than factual recollection in patients with severe amnesia; the researchers hope their findings will increase understanding of Alzheimer’s and related diseases and also bring comfort to caregivers and families in the knowledge that their loved ones may continue to feel the warmth of visits and conversations even if they can’t remember what happened. Read more
Even before this study was released, my sister and I have always felt this way. I don’t know if it’s just an innate ability we have in our family to recognize another’s emotions without even speaking to them, but we seem to know most of the time. I’m sure there are many out there that are like we are. But what’s troubling to me is that many staff members in facilities and even in home caregiving situations do not realize this. For some reason, people think that just because someone forgets that they don’t feel. So they go in a room, clean the patient, help them up, do all of the custodial duties they need to do and then leave. I think this is one of the many reasons why we took the more difficult route and brought our parents back home. Just like babies, people suffering from brain disease need that affection and that love even it if it’s just pat on the back and a smile on a face.
With large facilities, it’s so easy to get lost in the shuffle. It’s not really the staff’s fault because you’re dealing with a hundred patients or more in your facility. It’s just physically impossible to keep up. For families who are busy or just don’t know, these facilities provide a “safe” haven in their eyes where they don’t really have to worry about Mom or Dad because there is someone tending to their needs for the most part. However, for those families who are not visiting, or don’t check up, there are things they may not know about from an emotional standpoint. Just because Mom doesn’t know you, doesn’t mean she’s not sad or doesn’t feel happy when she does see you.
The study shows that for these facilities where staff was neglecting (which happens alot!) their patients, there were lingering feelings of frustration, anger and sadness. Let me give you an example: think about all the times you were a hospital. Think about the constant shuffling around from nurses, nurse aids and doctors coming in and out of patient’s rooms. Well, if you’ve never been to an assisted living or nursing facility, this is pretty much what it’s like. The only interaction besides the occasional jovial caregiver (which sadly is few and far between from our experience) is the activities director or assistant. I don’t know how often staff is trained on patient care but I think more classes need to be taught and more staff should be supervised and observed engaging with their patients. At the same time, compassion and kindness shouldn’t have to be taught. People who go into the profession should naturally want to engage with their patients otherwise do something else. So as the baby boomer generation ages, I hope that the people who apply for the caregiver positions (which there a lot of these days) carefully consider what they are getting into.
