100 signatures reached
To: Care Minister Alistair Burt
Human Rights for Dementia residents
Make it a requirement for Nursing Home managers to enable residents with dementia to access outdoor spaces on a regular basis.
Why is this important?
Too many residents with dementia are denied regular access to outdoor spaces, eg gardens, patio areas, around the nursing home.
The barriers I come across are "they feel secure inside"; "they may fall and hurt themselves"
Sadly these residents only feel secure indoors because they have been locked in under DOLS regulations, for months and years , on end; the same could be said of prisoners in Belmarsh ! they would feel insecure outside after being locked away for ages !
The only way some of these residents with dementia experience the outdoors is if family or friends take them out; due to age and infirmity , family sometimes cannot manage this.
People with dementia are no different from others in their need for sunshine and Vitamin D; in their need for emotional and spiritual uplifting by experiencing wind in their faces, hearing birdsong; looking at flowers and colours; in their need for mental and sensory stimulation; in fact they need these benefits more so than others who have the liberty to go where and when they please. people in nursing homes are prone to osteoporosis, (fragility of bones) , partly because they do not have exposure to sunshine, and also to exercise. I see them languishing in wheelchairs often for the whole day; pale certainly; apathetic often, in need of sensory and mental stimulation; Half an hour twice a day in the garden in the company of a care assistant would make a big difference to their lives.
My husband is in a lovely nursing home, with kind staff and carers; he is fortunate that I can and do take him out regularly ; even in inclement weather; not everyone has the same opportunity.
The barriers I come across are "they feel secure inside"; "they may fall and hurt themselves"
Sadly these residents only feel secure indoors because they have been locked in under DOLS regulations, for months and years , on end; the same could be said of prisoners in Belmarsh ! they would feel insecure outside after being locked away for ages !
The only way some of these residents with dementia experience the outdoors is if family or friends take them out; due to age and infirmity , family sometimes cannot manage this.
People with dementia are no different from others in their need for sunshine and Vitamin D; in their need for emotional and spiritual uplifting by experiencing wind in their faces, hearing birdsong; looking at flowers and colours; in their need for mental and sensory stimulation; in fact they need these benefits more so than others who have the liberty to go where and when they please. people in nursing homes are prone to osteoporosis, (fragility of bones) , partly because they do not have exposure to sunshine, and also to exercise. I see them languishing in wheelchairs often for the whole day; pale certainly; apathetic often, in need of sensory and mental stimulation; Half an hour twice a day in the garden in the company of a care assistant would make a big difference to their lives.
My husband is in a lovely nursing home, with kind staff and carers; he is fortunate that I can and do take him out regularly ; even in inclement weather; not everyone has the same opportunity.
