Family backs appeal for dementia-friendly hospital

Jonathon Parker (left) has dementia and is cared for by wife Wendy (right) and their family

The wife of a man with dementia has said it is vital that hospital environments should be made more welcoming for people with the condition.

Wendy Parker, from Rotherham, cares for her husband, Jonathon, who was diagnosed with early-onset dementia at the age of 59, and the family also previously looked after his mother who had the condition before she died.

Ms Parker, 60, said she and the family were supporting charity efforts to raise £250,000 to make a number of wards at Rotherham Hospital more welcoming and dementia-friendly.

She said: "It would be life-changing, because typical hospital areas can really throw off someone with dementia."

Four existing rooms on wards at Rotherham Hospital would be involved in the scheme, she explained.

'Frightening and confusing'

Ms Parker, a clinical support worker for Rotherham's virtual ward team, which helps people to be cared for in their own homes, said she still clearly remembered the day her husband had to give up work due to his condition.

"His boss had asked him to drive to pick something up from Leeds, but when he got there, he just didn't know what he was there for, or why he'd been asked to go," she said.

"It was on that day his employer recommended Jonathon took some time off, and he never returned."

She said that since that day, his condition had worsened and she knew that if he was ever admitted to hospital, he would "find it extremely frightening and confusing".

Ms Parker said since her husband's diagnosis, and as his condition progressed, "it's like they lose their voice, like the lights are on but no-one is home. I am my husband's voice".

"That's why we're helping to raise money to transform hospital rooms, making them private, where loved ones and carers can stay with patients," she said.

"It would be life-changing, because typical hospital areas can really throw someone with dementia off."

Rotherham Hospital and Community Charity is hoping to raise £250,000 to help make the site more dementia-friendly

Rachael Dawes, head of charity and engagement at Rotherham Hospital and Community Charity, behind the £250,000 appeal, said: "Strong patterns on hospital walls or floors can appear as dangerous holes to someone who has dementia.

"Creating a calm-inducing atmosphere is part of the plan. We have in mind reminiscence areas, for instance one that appears to have a potting shed and a fireplace, that's really soothing for such patients.

"Music and nostalgic news and images are also in mind."

Ms Parker said she, her husband and their children and grandchildren planned to take part in Rotherham Hospital and Community Charity's Autumn Memory Walk at Manvers Lake on 19 October to help raise more funds for the appeal.

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