UK families sending relatives with Dementia to Thailand

[dabhand]

Interesting article in the UK Guardian about the option of having UK dementia sufferers move to Thailand for better care.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/12/families-sending-relatives-with-dementia-to-thailand-for-care

[bkk6060]

Well, I would never send a loved one there.

Sorry, I do not think CM is a good place for old people due to some of the worst pollution in the world.

If Dementia does not kill them the air might.

[Thomas J]

Here are some photos of those suffering dementia in both the USA and the U.K. 

[ChipButty]

And I always thought it was because people left their brains on the tarmac

[Gecko123]

 

Quote

"...the strong family culture here. People respect the elderly as a norm."

 

Strong family culture and respect for the elderly may be stereotypes about Thai culture, but urbanization (meaning family members often have to move to urban areas in search of employment opportunities) has severely eroded both of these cultural hallmarks in recent decades.

 

In rural areas, children are often raised by extended family members, and see their birth parents only infrequently. Inter-generational bonds are nowhere near as strong as they were a century ago in the days of oxcarts and everyone living their whole life within a 25 mile radius of where they were born. It is also highly misleading to suggest that whatever reverence and respect a Thai person may feel for his or her parents or other elders in their community they've known all their lives, will quickly be extended to a frail foreigner who doesn't speak a word of Thai and suffers from dementia.

 

I think that there is a real risk of receiving less than optimal care unless the facility's management was very hands-on and staff was highly trained. My suspicion is that only in the most well-managed (and costly) care facilities will the level of care be truly exceptional. There also has to be a high level of care staff turnover in this occupation, just as there is in the West.

 

Finally, if a family member decides to put a family member in such a facility, and comes over for extended visits throughout the year, the cost of that travel has to be factored into the overall cost of care for the family member.

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by Gecko123

[Puchaiyank]

I will be more tolerant of UK posters after reading this article...☺

[Hans007]

Thailand is absolutely NO place for elder ( farrang) with any kind of desease???

 

Send people with dementia here is outter <deleted> imho.

 

Hans