We had been going through a particularly eventful period of time with ageing parents and teenage children, so Darren’s erratic behaviour was incredibly unhelpful at that time. After several GP visits, where prescribed treatments did nothing to help the symptoms or really explain the behaviours we were seeing, we were given a referral to a psychologist. The psychologist turned out to be a good connection, as she was aware of the specialist team at Western Health (Victoria) who specialised in neuropsychiatric conditions and the detection of Younger Onset Dementia.
Our psychologist’s referral and application to the Western Health program was successful, and the support we received in participating in the 10-day program has set us up for the easiest journey possible I feel along this horrible adventure.
Western Health strongly recommended registering for NDIS before leaving the hospital as we “will need their services”. Registering early meant we had the process started by time we realised we would need help, and what type of help we needed.
Over the years Darren’s needs and requirements have grown and changed as is expected with this disease, and they are expansive. Researching and engaging specialists who will understand his needs and requirements that are created by dementia is time consuming. Over the years we have worked with the National Disability Insurance Scheme, LAC’s, medical professionals, aged care providers who offer programs of dementia support, and support workers directly engaged by us with different skills to encourage and support Darren.
The network of support workers we were able to engage allowed for some variety in his day-to-day program, but also some support for each other if one worker was unwell or unable to attend one session it was possible to have a worker he was familiar with but on a different day, this arrangement also supported if family were unwell and unable to assist Darren, options were available for additional assistance.
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