Senile dementia in Russian
Dementia in Russia: help only for the elite
Klaus-Helge Donath, Die Tageszeitung: Demenzkranke in Russland. Hilfe nur fur die EliteTranslation by InoSMI
In Russia, almost two million elderly people suffer from dementia. But this topic is taboo, people are left to themselves.
Valentina Sergeevna is a statuesque, tall, strong woman. She has a pretty fresh complexion for her 98 years. And the energetic voice has not faded over the years. The former teacher is sitting in a chair in a two-room apartment in Vladimir, as if she used to be at the department, and continues to play school.
Her students are 72–year-old daughter Larisa and 47-year-old granddaughter Irina. They allow themselves to be commanded and even shouted at, and have completely subordinated their lives to the needs of their mother and grandmother. Irina works as a courier to have a free schedule. Valentina Sergeevna has been suffering from senile dementia for the last five years, she needs constant care. Only recently there was a case when Valentina Sergeevna seized the moment and rushed to the landing with a knife. "And she screamed curses like a dockworker," the granddaughter laughs.
But in fact, both women have not considered the situation funny for a long time. They tried to put Grandma in a nursing home, but it didn't work out. She was not accepted there. "Those who have relatives, they do not accept," says Irina. The topic of dementia is still considered taboo in Russia. Relatives consider it their duty to take care of the elderly. Shame, moral and social code do not allow complaining about this openly.
The state relies on the conscience of children and grandchildren. Therefore, nursing homes for more or less healthy elderly people are a rarity. Society is reminded of the existence of these institutions only when one of the staff commits a crime against defenseless elderly people.
According to Russian doctors, dementia in Russia affects from 1.8 to two million elderly people. They are cared for by 20 million assistants, mostly relatives. There are still no specialized institutions to care for them. Some institutions are opening small departments to care for those suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. But most often these are private organizations that require large sums by Russian standards.
The most inexpensive nursing homes cost from 40 thousand rubles a month, improved ones – twice as much. "But there are not enough places there either," says Lyudmila Prokhorovna, who is looking for a place for her mother. She is not married and has no relatives. When she is completely exhausted, she calls an ambulance. Her mother spends several days in the hospital, where mostly pensioners with physical ailments are treated.
Not far from Moscow there is an institution for VIP patients suffering from dementia. The monthly fee here ranges from 3,500 to 4,000 euros per month, while the average pension is 280 euros.
In Russia, old age is a useless life phase. According to sociologists, the country is separated from the Western level of development by three to five generations. Until the moment when it is understood that old age can be a good period in life, decades will pass.
This is one of the reasons why the topic of dementia is taboo. Physicians and physiologists have not considered this phenomenon in detail for a long time. Relatives of patients lack medical knowledge and practical techniques – knowledge about how they should care for the elderly. Even in professional circles, there is a stereotype that dementia is explained by the age factor. Perhaps the domination of communist gerontocrats, which lasted for decades in Moscow, explains the fact that even today gerontological research has frozen at the level of the 60s.
Meanwhile, Valentina Sergeevna fell out of bed. Irina and Larisa called the workers to lift her up. The fire service (so in the text of both the translation and the original of the article – VM) refused to come for hygienic reasons. "What should we do with the elderly?" someone asked on a blog about caring for people suffering from Alzheimer's disease. "Pickle," was the answer.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru18.04.2014