Wristband program works toward that goal
Gary Joseph LeBlanc, author, columnist and founder of the Dementia Wristband Training Project, told horror stories to a group of more than 80 residents, Oct. 28, and they didn’t have anything to do with it being almost Halloween.
The things that happen to patients who have lost mental capacity due to illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer’s when first responders are called to help can be devastating because responders have no idea what they’re dealing with.
They can’t see mental confusion or illness, so sometimes all they know is that someone is fighting or tearing up property. So instead of getting medical help, these people end up in jail.
At this point, LeBlanc gave examples that shocked even the first responders in the audience who take just about everything in stride.
“There was a man who broke his foot, and his wife took him to the ER,” LeBlanc said. “Everything was all right for awhile until the doctor was talking to the wife and said something that, to her husband, sounded like a threat, and he jumped up and pinned the doctor to the wall.”
Then LeBlanc told about the case of an elderly woman who liked to feed ducks in a nearby pond. It was one of the only pleasures she still enjoyed, being in a middling state of Alzheimer’s disease.
“One day as she was feeding the ducks, a policeman in Sebring arrested her, and she spent 10 months in jail instead of getting medical treatment,” LeBlanc said. “She didn’t know about rules concerning the ducks. She had no idea the sign said not to feed them. These things should not happen. There has to be a better way,” he said.
The number of Baker Acts used is up, he continued, and it costs $15,000 to use the Baker Act to hospitalize and treat someone for 24 hours. Wouldn’t it be much cheaper to pay for respite care for the caregivers so they could have the break they need? LeBlanc said that this would cut down on the need for Baker Acts.
According to Chapter 394 of the Florida Statutes, a Baker Act proceeding is a means of providing an individual with emergency service and temporary detention for mental-health evaluation and treatment whether on a voluntary or involuntary basis. If the Act is involuntary, a court decides that the person is in need of mental-health care and usually not able to live on his or her own.
“With all these baby boomers coming up, this is going to be one big problem in five years,” LeBlanc said.
Debbie Caneen, director of admissions at SunTowers Retirement and Rehabilitation Center, organized the program with the help of the Sun City Center Community Association, which donated the use of Community Hall for Oct. 28. Other community organizations and businesses assisted as needed.
Of the more than 80 people who attended, Caneen said about 90 percent were first responders in some capacity. Medical personnel from St. Joseph’s Hospital – South; Sun City Center Emergency Squad volunteers; sheriff’s deputies; and others asked questions and discussed what could be done.
LeBlanc’s idea about a Dementia Wristband identification program would put responders in a whole different frame of mind as they approached a scene.
“Knowing you’re dealing with a person with a mental condition changes their [responders’] attitude from the moment they arrive,” LeBlanc said. “What if it was your loved one? What would you want done? Would you want them to spend time in jail, maybe not even knowing why they’re there or what’s going on around them? Or would you want them handled differently, more gently, and get the medical help they need?”
LeBlanc’s program, formally called “The Alzheimer’s/Dementia Hospital Wristband Program,” was founded after LeBlanc had what he describes as nightmarish experiences of his own as his father’s primary caregiver.
Raising awareness of the problem is the first step.
Hospital staffs, first responders of all types, and anyone else needing training developed by LeBlanc in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association Florida Gulf Coast Chapter should be able to get it, he said.
That way, patients with a prior diagnosis or identified as having cognitive impairment will have a Purple Angel affixed to their standard-issue hospital wristband. It will also be placed on their door, and the use of sitters — or respite caregivers — will be used as needed so the primary caregiver can have more breaks.
The Purple Angel logo was originally developed in the United Kingdom and was inspired by Norman McNamara. The logo is being increasingly accepted as an international symbol. The key to the project is that it become a standard symbol that is quickly identifiable and recognized.
Anyone who wants to become involved can let their local hospital and Alzheimer’s Association chapter know that they support the Wristband project.
For more information, visit www.commonsensecaregiving.com.