clinical focus complexity of their living with dementia add to the experience of dealing with a natural disaster? People with dementia have impaired cognition, and this limits their ability to cope and also understand what’ s going on, so it upsets routines. If there’ s a natural disaster going on, there are new faces, there is wind, there is whatever the natural disaster brings. It just limits or disrupts the routines that people with dementia have.
What are some simple ways that families, carers and people with dementia themselves can prepare for a natural disaster? Like everyone else, be prepared. We work closely with the Red Cross, and they developed a RediPlan, so in a way it’ s about get in the know, get connected, get organised and get packing.
Our guide supplements the Red Cross RediPlan, as it focuses on those special needs that carers and people with dementia have when they live in the community and a natural disaster strikes. So, in a way, we use those sections as well, like plan ahead, get connected, get organised and get packing. And what happens during a natural disaster, and also what can you expect in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
What can people expect in the aftermath, then, and also while it’ s happening? Routines are disrupted. The person with dementia may not be able to understand what’ s going on and may refuse to evacuate. They could have memories of certain events that happened in their past, thinking about wars, or when they had to go to an evacuation centre where you have shared sleeping areas, and queuing up for food. There could be increased anxiety, they could have responsive behaviour, or maybe they experience some agitation, so all those behaviours which need the special attention of the carer, or people involved in looking after the person with dementia.
Jumping back to that earlier research involving residential aged care facilities, what were some of the key findings there? We found that over 88 per cent of aged care facilities have an emergency plan in place.
And we asked,“ Do you also address the special needs of people with dementia living in your facility?” And over 60 per cent have a policy outlining the special needs of people with dementia during a natural disaster. So, there’ s some room for improvement there as well.
However, people living with dementia fall under the responsibility of the aged care facilities, and compared to people living in the community, they just need some extra support, and that’ s why we created this guide.
What other advice do you have for anyone who lives with or cares for someone who has dementia, or for the person with dementia themselves? Carers have a responsibility to keep themselves safe, and also keep the person with dementia as safe as possible. So the best thing is to plan ahead and use the Red Cross RediPlan, and also our guide, to make the preparation as smooth and as complete as possible.
Our guide is user-friendly. It’ s based on the latest evidence. It’ s created in collaboration with the Red Cross, but we also used an expert panel. People who are carers of people with dementia were a part of that expert panel, so they helped us create and design the guide.
We’ ve got some special advice for carers of people with dementia living in the community. First of all, get connected. Create a support network, and include those people who know the person with dementia, and who understand and can communicate with the person.
Also in our guide, we have some telephone numbers for carers, like the
People with dementia who were affected by hurricanes... had worse outcomes – more of them died after a hurricane.
Safely Home program, which advises people to wear identifying bracelets. Especially during natural disasters, there is an increased risk that a person with dementia might get lost.
Also, phone numbers for MedicAlert, where there is easy access to medical records, which can be helpful if a person with dementia gets injured during a natural disaster.
Carers also need to think about transport and maintaining routines as much as possible. Maybe have in their RediPlan things that can help to calm down the person with dementia, or maybe things that can upset them easily. ■
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