The unique project for people with dementia in the ICF

A dignified sunset years – how do we imagine it? Most often, each of us believes that it will be wise, confident, and rich with his own life experience. And may G-d giveit to be so! And if all that does not work? What shall we do when with the years come not only tiredness and partial loss of physical strength, but also memory loss, disorders of attention and the loss of former skills? How to ensure a decent old age to a man who does not always understand what is happening to him and sometimes doesn't recognize those closest to him? And how does it feel to the relatives to experience such dramatic and irrevocable changes in the behavior of a loved one? What is it like: to take care of dad or mom who don't even remember you? Where and with whom you can talk about your experiences and who are able to help, give good advice or just listen but humanwise what the people with a terrible diagnosis of "dementia" have to face? In search of answers to these difficult questions, ICF "Jewish Hesed "Bnei Azriel" with the support of the British organization World Jewish Relief (WJR) has started a large-scale social project "Creation of friendly community for people with dementia". The project will work in several directions. First and foremost, we will develop the direct work with people suffering from dementia for maximum deceleration of the development of this disease. In addition, we will try to prevent the disease of clients that fall into the risk group. The second direction of our work will be a creation of support groups for family members caring for clients with dementia, providing necessary information, psychological help and training of correct and tolerant attitude to manifestations of the disease. The third direction will include an active educational work with the purpose of formation of a tolerant attitude towards people with dementia, dissemination of correct information about the necessary actions when helping a person with visible symptoms. All these areas of work are traditionally used in many Western countries, and now are effectively used by the experts of ICF "Jewish Hesed "Bnei Azriel". In the framework of the project "Creation of friendly community for people with dementia" at the Kiev Hesed there are joint classes regularly held for the wards of Hesed with dementia, their relatives or social workers, who are constantly providing them with assistance and support. Such classes in the company of psychologists help families better understand the disease, gain insight on their own reactions and often show how to behave in a given situation. And the wards receive understanding, which is such essential for them, feel themselves valued and happy to spend time in a joint class or a delicious tea-drinking. After all, the human attitude, respect and compassion are values that we can accept, even without understanding and analyzing them. A project on the creation of a friendly community for people with dementia is the answer to the latest life challenge that ICF "Jewish Hesed "Bnei Azriel" accepts readily. We cannot apply the blind eye to the fact that some of our wards are prone to dementia, but we can help them and their nearest circle, we are able to alleviate their plight and create conditions for their dignified old age. After all, the ancient Jewish commandment of "Hesed" is a charity, addressed not to ones who are able to repay, but to those who need it.

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  4A Londonska st., Kyiv

  +380 (50) 353 75 17
  pr@kievhesed.org.ua
 

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