so that Alzheimer patient is back in jail and his victim has died this time

WHY oh WHY would they have ever put him in a non-secure area?

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Elderly-care-home-resident-dies-of-injuries--118853004.html

I know most of us were pissed when they simply arrested him when he assaulted his wife previously, BUT DEAR GOD.. could they not have actually put him where he needed to be with proper treatment?

They did place him in a care home. It's clear he needs a much more secure environment, no matter how much his wife and family b1tch.

Dean, you're assuming he wasn't in a secure area of the nursing home. Not sure if Parkview even has a secure unit (as in a locked area for Alzheimer's victims). The Revera website states that there is a resident safety program but doesn't detail what it is. Having had 3 family members who have been struck with this horrible disease, one who was on the violent side of the spectrum, I can say that his violence always reared itself at the most unknown times and places and for unknown reasons, it could have been just a sideways glance by someone that set him off.

It is a very sad and unfortunate thing that one person has died because of another person's inability to control himself because of a disease but to say he wasn't in a place that provided proper treatment is not correct either. Unless you have personal dealings with this home...

And really do we even know what proper treatment is for an Alzheimer's victim??? If we did, our aging population quite possibly wouldn't have to suffer with this disease and those of us who are family caregivers wouldn't have that sinking feeling that "I may be next".

Sorry, just can't place judgement on a person who does not have full control of his mind because of this horrendous disease that takes a person backwards in their own time. And we all will have our own opinions of this situation so I will put this out right now, we can agree that we will disagree to some extent.

I'll wear the same colour jersey holly is here. Good post.

he was violent with his wife. This predicts that he will be violent with others. Obviously the care in controlling the situation was not enough since he killed someone.

Good post Holly! I am watching this horrible disease rob me of a father. It is heart wrenching.

The reason dude was placed in a home to begin with was because he had a violent history. I don't know what level of security these homes have but I'd say the bare minimum would have dude out of reach of other patients or 100% supervised.

Now that said, dude could have had 20 supervisors withing reach and still could have done what he did.

Now though, there is no choice. He must have one-on-one hands on supervision, be restrained or locked in a room.

No one else should be put at risk.

Thanks Goth_Chic. I have watched/attended to both my maternal grandfather (who was the violent one), my maternal grandmother (spouses) and now my mother, all in a 25 year span. Although living wills are not recognized as legal yet in this country I have one that states that if I even am diagnosed with this disease and it comes to the point where I have to be placed in a care home complete with diapers, being feed by a stranger, etc (you get the picture) and euthanasia is an option, then my caregiver be it my husband, son or one of my daughters or any other person who is legally appointed by me before I lose all capacity has all authority to end my life. I do not want any of my children to have to deal with what I have gone through 3 times, EVER!!!

And to say this man is violent is not altogether correct, it is the disease that is making him violent. And one incident does not create a huge history, enough to have him in a locked facility. And because he was violent towards his wife is not a predictor to further violence against others(although it ended up as so). When an Alzheimer's victim is put into a situation that is scary to them or is a new situation that their mind, in whatever state it may be in, is not able to cope with, sometimes they will strike out, sometime they will run away and other times they will curl up into the fetal position and pee themselves. In this case, this gentleman is now in a psych centre for a 28 day evaluation so he is now in a locked facility but that doesn't insure he won't act out violently again.

There are no facilities that exist in this province for violent patients of this sort.

That is the problem. (at least as I understand it.)

"And to say this man is violent is not altogether correct, it is the disease that is making him violent."

semantics

JTF wrote:There are no facilities that exist in this province for violent patients of this sort.

That is the problem. (at least as I understand it.)

"Patients of this sort" are as unpredictable as as a fart in a windstorm, you don't know which way they are going to blow. But in most care homes, Alzheimer's victims are supervised as best as can be expected when in group settings but if a particular patient's behaviour is shall we say "suspect" then they may be restrained in other than physical means. I know the home that my mother is in, for the Alzheimer's victims who are still mobile, they are in a locked unit and all of their clothing have security warning bands inside of them (similar to the electronic security bands used at Blockbuster and Walmart that beep if you haven't paid for your merchandise). If a patient is not to leave the unit and somehow manages to get through the security, the alarm will sound. This is about as secure as personal care homes can get. And these security measures are in place for the patient's safety so they don't wander off and get lost or hurt. "Running away" is a very common aspect of this disease and can be a real issue if a person is only dressing is sleeping attire and it is -40C outside. Physical restraints are only to be used in very extreme cases.

I don't think anyone can understand the situation until they personally know or have seen someone progress through the disease
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And this is another reason why doctor assisted suicide should be an option in our health care system.
Because in spite of the gazillions of dollars we pour into research and prevention there are still some diseases where they are not much closer to curing than they were 30 years ago.

JTF wrote:There are no facilities that exist in this province for violent patients of this sort.

That is the problem. (at least as I understand it.)

That is probably due to the fact that there are few violent Alzheimer patients.

Otherwise we would be hearing about this sort of stuff on a regular basis.

What is the province to do? Build a multi-million dollar secure prison like facility to prevent a tragic anomaly like this one from occurring?

Is that the best you've got sputnik?

There are examples of such "anomalies" every day. And with increasing frequency. Bet your a$$ on it. Just because we don't hear about every one does not mean they don't happen.

We have a facility in Selkirk. Maybe we re-purpose something there? Maybe part of the 6th floor at VGH could be used for this/other similar medical "anomalies"?

One thing is certain. The population of Winnipeg is growing older every day. The incidences of Alzheimer's is growing at the same rate I'd bet. Care facilities are a real growth industry. Perhaps we need to reconsider the development of these centres.

Or we build a multi-million dollar secure prison like facility to prevent a tragic "anomaly" like this one from occurring. Sigh.

Again, as I understand it, the disease can affect some people in ways which require a more secure approach in housing them. They become violent and need to be supervised more closely than with other patients.

Perhaps a place where we can gather up such patients and properly supervise them is in order.

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Be silent. Ve We have ways of dealing with people such as yourself.

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Normally people who have done something really bad deserve to be in jail
People who have Alzheimer's did not do anything bad to get the disease.

Speaking for myself, if I knew I was going to get Alzheimer's, I would rather be dead then put my family through what they would have to go through watching me wither away right before their eyes.
I would not surprised if a lot of Alzheimer's patients feel the same way.

JTF wrote:Be silent. Ve We have ways of dealing with people such as yourself.

Sorry JTF, but I do not find anything funny about the situation.

Outsider wrote:

JTF wrote:Be silent. Ve We have ways of dealing with people such as yourself.

Sorry JTF, but I do not find anything funny about the situation.

I agree, but I think he was specifically referencing my comment, which I'll remove shortly.

"People who have Alzheimer's did not do anything bad to get the disease."
no one said they did. But to simply "let people" run loose just because they are not to blame a disease is, is crazy

Unfortunately it isn't as if one day the disease takes over. It takes over very gradually so that it takes years to finally take its toll.

People move in and out of lucidity, so from one day to the next, they can be dramatically different.

Outsider wrote:

JTF wrote:Be silent. Ve We have ways of dealing with people such as yourself.

Sorry JTF, but I do not find anything funny about the situation.

I'm not sure I understand which situation to which you refer.

My intention was not to make light of Alzheimer's, however, if you took it that way and were offeended, I'm sorry for that.

Alzheimer's is like any other disease that turns people violent. Look at Li. He is no different. But because he has serious violent impulses he must be watched and we must be protected from him.