Dealing with dementia within the law system

Living with dementia is something more and more UK families will have to cope with over the coming years, with an ageing population already asking big questions of society’s resources. Many campaigners for the health sector have been heavily involved in pressurising those in power to treat the issue of dementia with the utmost seriousness; more care homes are finding it advisable to specialise in pioneering forms of dementia care; and the fight against prejudice towards the elderly, with campaigns like Dignity in Care and the Anti-Ageism Campaign, is only just gearing up.

However, though the moral pulse of the nation and its political structure are there to be tackled, one area that can continually frustrate people is the subject of law. Whatever criticisms people may have of our law system, even those who are defenders of it have to concede that whatever problems it has are exacerbated when the issue of mental capacity arises, as it often does where the issue of dementia is concerned. With statistics showing that fraud continues to be on the increase, the contest of wills, inheritance and ownership are likely to become contentious issues, adding to the misery of families affected by mental health problems, if a greater awareness is not reached in ways to prepare them to deal with these issues well in advance.

Anyone who attended last week’s Bournemouth Care Show (an event staged three times a year, also held in London and Birmingham), at which the major names of the care sector gather, had the choice of two days’ worth of seminars to attend on the very subject of dementia. So the extent of anxiety health professionals still feel on dementia-related issues can hardly be said to have lessened despite becoming a hotly-debated national issue. Just as NHS funding for care has remained elusive despite being available to many families, an ongoing concern is likely to be just how the average family can become well-prepared for the likelihood of onset and how the care system can become transparent to their needs.

Where mental capacity is concerned it’s a sad fact that the elderly are often the target of con-artists, often from within their own family. Loved ones need to be more aware of the rules set out by the Court of Protection and the Deprivation of Liberty standards that are in place to protect individuals from such targeting, and to secure ‘advance decisions’ in relation to personal assets and wishes for end-of-life treatment.

Thankfully, the practice of quality dementia care is now very much a matter of pride for large proportions of the care sector, with any methods that still advocate physical restraint or the overuse of depressants in order to improve behaviour widely frowned upon, even if examples of them can still be found. More care homes now advertise their services as specialising in treating dementia, with innovative methods of improving cognitive ability and independent living skills, especially in early-onset, in order to make for a more satisfying day-to-day life an essential addition. However, families should be aware that even those whose loved ones benefit from quality care can still be stung by the pitfalls of mental capacity if their relative has become the target of manipulation.