What does it feel to get older and live with dementia? These simulations can show you
The currentWhat is it like to have dementia? This care center can teach you
What if you can really feel what it is like to grow old – while your body slows down, fade your senses and the world becomes more difficult to navigate – years before your own time comes?
In a simulation center in Toronto, that concept of visceral becomes a powerful way to build empathy and gain deeper insight into the daily reality of those they worry about.
“The people we put in this are not vulnerable, older adults, so they can embody an experience that is different from theirs, and we hope it changes the way they are approaching and communicating with the people they work with,” said Meaghan Adams told The current ‘S Host Matt Galloway.
Adams is the manager of simulation and virtual learning at Baycrest’s Center for Education and Knowledge Exchange in Aging, and she led Galloway through the experience earlier this year.
She started dressing him in a weighted jumpsuit, followed by tight tires wrapped around his elbows, knees and neck to limit movement.
Subsequently, glasses faded his vision, earplugs that filled in his hearing and gloves that bothered his sense of touch.
Once completely suitable, Galloway got a stick and was asked to walk to a bookshelf and choose a book. His movements were slow and the physical discomfort was quickly accompanied by emotional discomfort.
“There is a real fear,” Galloway told Adams. “I can’t see certain things … There are other people in the neighborhood, but I don’t know what’s going on.”
It is just one of the tools that the center uses to give people an idea of what it is like to age. They also have a tablet-based simulation with which users can experience life with dementia-such as confusing a robe on a bathroom door for a person, causing fear or confusion.
Older adults are the fastest growing demography in Canada. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research Projects that by 2026More than one in five Canadians will be seniors. By 2046, the Number of Canadians aged 85 and older it is expected to tripled.
Aging does not automatically mean Getting weak – but it increases the risk of chronic illness, physical decline and cognitive impairment. More than 1.6 million Canadians are currently living with vulnerability, that is expected to increase More than 2.5 million in the following decade.
Also the Number of Canadians living with dementia It is expected that between 2020 and 2050 it will climb with 187 percent and reach more than 1.7 million people.
And as the number of people who need care, the number of care providers also increases. One in four Canadians care To a friend, family member or neighbor and half of the Canadians will do it So at a certain point in their lives.
Support for healthcare providers
According to Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy investigation at the National Institute on Aging, is responsible for a loved one a “24/7 job”.
As such, simulation tools for building empathy, Sinha says, Sinha not only deepens the understanding of those who receive care, but also emphasizes the challenges that care providers themselves have.
“We must acknowledge that care providers need support and that we really have to concentrate on it to ensure that we can offer the necessary support in any way,” he said.
Three-day workshop, founded by NBCC in Moncton, learns informal care providers how to prevent forage, dealing with burnout and how to access much-needed services.
He Says he works with a woman who has been taking care of her husband with dementia for eight years. Sinha’s The role is to ensure that she has the information, strategies and confidence she needs to handle complex and emotionally challenging situations.
The less knowledge a caregiver has, he says, the more stressful experience. Many caregivers suffer from anxiety, depression and physical health problems.
Although emotional support is essential, he says that practical help is just as important. The spouse of the same caregiver attends a dementia day program for adults a few days a week – gives her crucial time to rest and charge, says Sinha.
Healthcare providers also often spend thousands of dollars every year on out-of-pocket costs such as transport.
Promote relationship-concentrated care
For Adams, simulations such as those in its center are important to create a more compassionate care model.
In Busy health care institutionsIt is easy for providers to concentrate on tasks and forget the person behind the diagnosis, she says. Adams believes that empathy should be cultivated.
“We must be intentional to give people opportunities to … take a step back from the constant daily haste and to make contact with why they are in the career in which they are located,” Adams said.
“People are in health care because they appreciate and help others.”
She says that the simulations are designed to create a shift in perspective that can be visceral for some people.
“Sometimes people get upset – they cry because you feel something,” said Adams. “You feel something that you wouldn’t do if I stood up for you and said,” Older people have a different hearing and other vision, and vulnerability looks like this. ”
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That emotional bond, she says, helps everyone involved in care – staff, residents, families and friends – concentrate on people, not just on the condition.
“They are a person with dementia, but they are a person, and they have preferences and histories and families and beautiful, rich, life stories,” said Adams.
“If you can connect with that, make contact with the person who is still there.”
