Dementia: Esther’s Story

Esther, aged 79, lives in an assisted living complex in the Lichfield area. She was diagnosed with dementia some time ago. As part of her care plan, MPFT’s Dementia Review team meet Esther each year for a full check on how she is getting on. 

When the assisted living staff alerted Esther’s family that she was going out alone, sometimes at night, Esther’s son got in touch with the review team. He asked if they could arrange the next review sooner. 

Help to stay at home safely 

In the same week that Esther’s son got in touch, one of the review team visited the Esther to find out more. After an urgent discussion later that day, the team’s occupational therapist (OT) made a visit. She found out that Esther was feeling lonely and going out to look for friends to chat to.  

Social services arranged a safeguarding review. They decided that Esther needed more help at home. The OT and the MPFT review team explored whether Esther could visit a day centre, to give her more company and enjoyable things to do.  

Positive outcome  

Esther now goes to a local day centre three times a week. This makes her days busier and more sociable. Support staff from the Dementia Review team helped her to settle in at the centre until she started feeling comfortable there. 

An MPFT support worker visits once a week to chat with Esther at home and take her for a safe walk if she feels like going out. 

Esther’s care package (help at home) now includes help with getting dressed and ready for her day centre visits. It includes checks that she is taking her medication. 

With Esther and her family’s agreement, the OT arranged for some assistive technology to make things safer for Esther at home. She now has a remote monitoring system that uses sensors to track her movement around the house. This can send alerts – for example, it would send an alert if Esther didn’t move for a long time, which might indicate a fall.  

A door sensor was fitted, which would warn Esther’s family if she went out. 

However, now that she is getting additional support, Esther is no longer going out by herself.