Family backs calls for dementia-friendly hospital

The wife of a Rotherham man with dementia is supporting a £250,000 campaign to make hospital wards more dementia-friendly.

Wendy Parker, 60, from Rotherham, cares for her husband Jonathon, who was diagnosed with early-onset dementia at 59.

She said typical hospital settings can be “frightening and confusing” for patients. Early-onset dementia means symptoms appear before the age of 65.

The family are backing Rotherham Hospital and Community Charity’s efforts to raise £250,000 to adapt four existing rooms into spaces where carers can stay alongside patients.

Ms Parker, a clinical support worker for Rotherham’s virtual ward team, which helps people to be cared for at home, recalled the moment her husband had to stop working.

“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 his condition had since worsened. “It’s like they lose their voice, like the lights are on but no-one is home. I am my husband’s voice,” she said.

“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.

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

Rachael Dawes, head of charity and engagement at Rotherham Hospital and Community Charity, which is leading the 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, their children and grandchildren plan to take part in the charity’s Autumn Memory Walk at Manvers Lake on 19 October to help raise funds for the appeal.