Dementia patients 'not listened to'

PEOPLE WITH dementia are less likely to speak up and less likely to be listened to, a conference on ageing has heard.

Eleanor Edmund of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland said ageism made it hard for older people’s voices to be heard but it was even harder for those with dementia.

“Stigma about dementia means that a person with dementia is less likely to speak up and their listeners are more likely to assume that what they have to say is unreliable,” she said.

Ms Edmund was speaking at a conference organised by Trinity College Dublin’s social policy and ageing research centre and Northern Ireland’s Changing Ageing Partnership.

The centre’s director Dr Virpi Timonen said older people’s participation in decision-making was very important, particularly when it involved policies and practices that directly affected their lives.

Earlier, the conference heard that widowhood would become less common in the future and this would see more older couples caring for one other – reducing our need for nursing homes.

However health policy author Maev-Ann Wren said this would also highlight the need for better supports for older people at home.