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Pilot program helps families cope with pain of dementia

Although the loss of a relative to dementia can drag on for many years, families can still take an active role to improve the quality of a dementia sufferer's last days, a patients' families' group said.

A survey conducted with 55 family members of persons suffering from dementia who went through a program to learn more about dementia and how to deal with it found that 80 percent of patients said their family member's behavior had improved after the program.

The three-year pilot program, organized by the Kung Tai Medical Education Foundation and sponsored by the Department of Health, is in its second year.

"We have to help these families -- they are the silent victims of dementia," said Yeh Bin-chian (葉炳強) of National Taiwan University's department of neurology and one of the facilitators in the program.

"Families can minimize the pain and lighten the burden associated with caring for a loved one suffering from dementia by learning more about the disease," Yeh said.

Understanding can be difficult when loved ones suddenly start to behave in a bizarre fashion.

"When my mother-in-law first developed Parkinson's disease, we attributed the symptoms to natural forgetfulness," Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) said. "We did not realize she was seriously sick until she accused me of trying to seduce my father-in-law."

"Me, my husband and my father-in-law all yelled at her for making such a ridiculous claim. All of a sudden, the emotional turmoil brought out all her symptoms," she said.

The stress was overwhelming, she said.

"My husband ended up in NTU's mental ward for heavy depression and a suicide attempt," she said

Wang Yi-min (王憶敏), a psychologist who leads many meetings in the program, said that readjusting unreasonable expectations is necessary to avoid frustration and unnecessary emotional pain when dealing with people afflicted with dementia.
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