Some years ago I was working as a Community Health Nurse. One of my clients was a man in his eighties whose wife had died recently and quite suddenly from a heart attack. I called at his home each week to check on his welfare. Although I was aware that he was suffering from Alzheimers, it quickly became obvious that his wife had done so much for him that its severity was well hidden.
As he deteriorated, I put in services to help him - Meals on Wheels and someone to do his housework and take him to the shops to buy groceries. Then he began to wander around the district, sometimes being found by neighbours miles from home. I booked him into a Day Respite Centre, where he was cared for three days of the weekand where he had company and entertainment.
One day the lady who did his housework came and told me that his son had taken his bankbook and left him with an insufficient amount of pocket money. I spoke to the son, who rarely visited his father, and said his father needed more money.
'He only wastes it.' he told me. 'That's me and my brother's inheritance.'
I contacted the Legal Guardian's office and told them of the situation. They began proceedings to take Power of Attorney away from the son. Meanwhile, I found a respite bed in a very nice nursing home, with a locked dementia unit, for the old man while I searched for more permanent accommodation for him.
A few days later the Director of Nursing at the home phoned me and said the old man had figured out the keypad lock for the dementia unit and let all the residents out. They were all walking down towards the river when the nursing staff noticed them.
Not long after this I was able to get him permanent accommodation in another pleasant and well-run nursing home where he was very happy.
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