Independent Senator Lindell Nurse wants assistance to be provided for the families and caregivers of those living with dementia and alzheimer’s in Barbados.
Nurse said the amount of time he spent at funerals drove the point home and it was clearly “a real big issue in our society as it is worldwide”. He was particularly concerned about the caregivers.
“Those are the people who have real problems when they have to deal with persons with dementia, particularly if you are trying to struggle through by maintaining the sufferers in the home environment,” he said.
Nurse, who was contributing to the debate on the Appropriation Bill, 2025 in the Senate yesterday, said the family might have to pay for nursing care, which was not cheap, with fees around $3 000 to $4 000 monthly.
“And then of course, we have from the side of the caregivers, the issues which they themselves have to face. It leads to additional stress for them. They can then begin to have issues with hypertension because of having to deal with these patients all the time. It has an impact on the overall social interaction and socialisation because they have to spend a large percentage of their time with these sufferers,” Nurse said, adding it was like a full-time job.
He suggested families be encouraged to keep the person with alzheimer’s within the fold as long as they could.
“If we can and we have to bring in nursing care to assist with the care, I think maybe we need to look at some sort of tax credit or some other form of compensation. I don’t call it compensation, it’s probably more assistance for those persons and those families who have to struggle through with these issues of dementia.”
Nurse also gave a nod of approval to the increase in the grant for foster parents from $100 and $110 weekly depending on age to $200 across the board.
“I think that is an important aspect of the whole issue of dealing with the issues of child care. I think there are a number of families who have been involved for years and have done an extremely good job in assisting with looking after children who would otherwise have had to be confined, or consigned, or placed, or whatever you use the technical term, in a home,” Nurse said.
“And so I would like to see this aspect of it being expanded and encouraged and that families be encouraged to take on the responsibility where they can, of getting involved in the whole question of foster care. So I think, again, that is a good move and that is a step in the right direction.”
