Manitoba man with Alzheimer’s arrested for violence
NEWS: An article in the Canadian Press — tells the story of a 69 year old man with Alzheimer’s in Winnipeg who has been jailed for violence twice in recent history.
Last fall he assaulted his wife and was arrested, even though he was confused and didn’t recognize her. More recently he assaulted another person who lived at the same “care home,” where he had been moved.
“Joe has no recollection of this,” a spokesman, David Shorr said. “He was interviewed by police and he actually thought he worked at the home. His mental state has deteriorated quite a bit since his previous arrest.”
“His family is expressing their sincere concern for the well-being of the individual who is in hospital as a result of this alleged assault.”
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority moved quickly to assess McLeod’s condition and got him into an emergency placement at a personal care home.
“The health authority said at the time it would work with the Alzheimer Society of Manitoba, Winnipeg police and the provincial Justice Department to “establish better protocols for dealing with such situations.”
But Shorr said the Manitoba government has not been doing a good enough job in ensuring there is proper care for Alzheimer’s patients, some of whom may exhibit aggression or even violent behaviour.
“This government has no strategy for dealing with a rapidly aging population and the challenges pertaining to Alzheimer’s and dementia,” said Shorr, who noted that before he became ill, McLeod had no criminal record and no history of abuse or violence.”
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This story is a sad example of what can happen if he person with late stage Alzheimer’s isn’t cared for and watched properly.
Then, it’s quite appalling to hear that he actually went to jail.
This presents even more questions for our own cities. Would Police arrest our loved one or take them to a hospital if such a thing happened in our hometown.
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Ellen Woodward Potts says
08/03 at 1:53 pmUnfortunately, violence is a very real concern for some caregivers (lay people and professionals). It usually can be prevented through proper interaction techniques, but not always.
My father-in-law was a gentle, kind man his entire life. However, his variant of Alzheimer’s disease severely affected his frontal lobe, where judgment and self-control are housed. He remained physically very strong until not long before his death. Most of the time, he was easy to deal with, but when someone tried to give him personal care (bathing, changing clothes, toileting, etc.), he often became violent. There came a time when he sent multiple caregivers in the nursing home where he lived to the ER per week. At that point, we had to have him committed through the probate court system to a geriatric dementia psych facility for the safety of those around him. Testifying that he was a danger to himself and others was horrible for my husband, an only child who loved his father dearly, but it was the only course of action left to us. We are fortunate that there is an excellent geriatric dementia psych facility called the Mary Stark Harper Center in our community. They were able to find the right combination of drugs to control his behavior and protect those around him.