Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in the re-launch of a residential home in a West Dorset village. It was a very encouraging occasion – not least because this home, which had been rather outdated, was now beautifully crisp and smart, and all without losing any of its former character.
But the most remarkable thing about this particular home is that it caters in particular, for those with severe dementia.
Reaching across the divide between relatively well-ordered consciousness and the confused and confusing world of disordered consciousness is no easy matter, as any reader who has had experiences with relatives in this situation will know. The effects that these things can have on those close to the person affected are one of the great tests of emotional stamina.
I feel sure that the quality of the surroundings make a considerable difference to the tranquillity and quality of life even for those who may display very little apparent awareness. And it is quite definitely the case that for all those relatives who are passing through this arduous emotional experience, the character and quality of the care makes an enormous difference.
So it is incredibly, and increasingly important that there should be places like the remarkable home that I was visiting.
But the real question is, what happens next?
In the long run, we have to hope that further miracles of medical technology (including nano-technology) will produce methods of preventing dementia from taking hold and will thereby make Alzheimer’s and the like a thing of the past. But, unless we are very lucky, we may have to wait a long time for this to happen. In the meanwhile, as more and more of us live longer and longer, it seems a near certainty that more and more of us will suffer from one form or another of attack on our consciousness in old age.
Looking around this immaculate home, with its dedicated staff and its well-endowed rooms, I was forced to wonder how either individuals or society at large are going to manage these costs.
I am not thinking, here, of the vexed question of people losing their houses to pay for residential care: because I think we are on the brink of finding a satisfactory insurance scheme to prevent that happening in the medium term. I am thinking, rather, about the broader equation, with an increasing proportion of the resources of society as a whole devoted to providing for those of us who are unfortunate enough to require intensive care in old age.
If nano-technology has not delivered us from dementia by the time that those of us now middle-aged reach our declining years, will our children and grandchildren really be willing to foot the bill? I very much hope so.