Dr Bruce Bomans CANTERBURY

 People with dementia should be kept at home in a familiar environment for as long as possible  Treatment of older people with mental disorders should, as far as possible, be done in t

Bruce Boman

Director of Training

Sydney South West Psychiatry Training Network

 People with dementia should be kept at

home in a familiar environment for as long

as possible

 Treatment of older people with mental

disorders should, as far as possible, be

done in the community not in hospital,

 My work is completely community based

 I am part of a multidisciplinary team of geriatricians, nurses, occupational

therapists, physiotherapists & social

workers

 Our team leader is a social worker

 We see our patients where they are living

 Either in their homes or in nursing homes

 I work in a very multicultural area and

 Often conduct my assessments using an interpreter

 Common language groups are Greek,

Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Italian &

Vietnamese

 Let me show you some photos of the area

Lakemba Mosque

Cao Dai Temple Wiley Park

All Saints Greek Orthodox ChurchBelmore

 It is also a high crime area

 With a major drug problem

 And regular drive-by shootings

St Basil’s Day Care Centre Lakemba

 Elderly people & their families

One of the nursing homes

I visit

St Basil’s Lakemba

A typical apartment block where I would see an older person in

 People with chronic mental illness like schizophrenia & bipolar disorder

 People with new onset mental illness particularly depression & late onset schizophrenia

 People with dementia who have

behavioural problems like aggression, paranoid delusions & depression

 30-40% of elderly people see a friend or relative outside their household on a daily basis

 So don’t confuse living alone with being lonely

 Meals delivered to the person’s home each day

shopping

 Less common in Australia for adult children to have their elderly, frail parents live with them than in

Vietnam

residential care facilities

 Hostel: for elderly who need lower level

care Residents have their own

serviced room & get meals, supervision & medication

 Elderly person will often have to pay a

large amount of money to become a

resident

Typical hostel dining room

 For elderly who need

high level care

 Help with bathing,

dressing, toileting,

eating, medication

 Many people in nursing homes have dementia (60-80%)

 Government subsidises cost in nursing homes

Some nursing homes have specific dementia care areas

Do you think there will continue to be three generation families in large urban cities like

Hanoi?