in-cyprus 7 July 2023 - by Annie Charalambous
Elderly people with Alzheimer’s suffer abuse either at nursing homes or at home by domestic workers or even by their own children, a representative of the Cyprus Third Age Observatory has told MPs.
The Observatory’s Demos Antoniou also warned that with the rapid ageing of the population Cyprus is holding a “demographic bomb in its hands”.
MPs on Thursday discussed the lack of facilities and the need to include Alzheimer’s and related dementias in the island’s General Health System (Gesy).
“We observe that caretakers who are in charge of elderly people with Alzheimer’s are not qualified, while family members who care for such patients are on the verge of psychological collapse without any assistance offered by the state,” Antoniou also said.
The MPs also heard that the provision of specialised support to individuals and their families is mostly provided by private initiative and day centres run by associations focusing on these kinds of mental illnesses.
The state only provides care allowances when an Alzheimer’s patient reaches the point of being confined to a wheelchair as a paraplegic or quadriplegic.
And at the same time, associations supporting this group of patients receive little or no state funding. An example is the case of the Cyprus Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Association ‘Don’t forget me’ which, as its representatives had said, receives a state sponsorship of just €5,000 a year.
