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The Loneliness

Caregivers: Dementia | Last Active: 16 hours ago | Replies (63)

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Profile picture for ocdogmom @ocdogmom

@georgescraftjr I am so sorry that you had to deal with the police because of George's son's advice to him. I am wondering if contacting the community outreach person at the police department, not the front desk or dispatcher, would be able to allow you to inform the police that your husband has dementia and to keep this in mind when responding to any future calls.
I would ask if they have any policies regarding interacting with dementia patients. They may have to respond to anyone that calls about feeling unsafe because sadly there are cases of abuse of elderly people. But maybe being informed ahead of time would change the tone of the interaction. Just throwing that out there because I think that this is a growing concern for dementia caregivers and perhaps the local police department has not addressed this with a specific policy. I do know that some 911 dispatchers if they are aware of the dementia will send a mental health provider along with the police officers.

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@ocdogmom

Thanks, Michelle.

P.S. The local police department are familiar with us by now. We live in a small town, and George insisted that I call "911" on other occasions. On each of those occasions, he was convinced that he was dying--and he has that fear all the time. I try to tell him not to be afraid of dying because he has lived a full life. (Trying to continue to live a full life is unrealistic at this point, for both the caregiver and loved one--unless one redefines the meaning of living a full life. If one accepts that living fully means living purposefully, then we caregivers can still live a "full" life even though our days of traveling; going to the opera, a play and the symphony; or just going to a cafe for a cup of coffee, etc, are over. There are few challenges greater than being a dementia caregiver.)