Alzheimer’s plan struggles
A Sue Ryder Home aims to provide specialized care in separate facility. The
history of the Sue Ryder Home in Prague
is a story with some unexpected twists.
Sue Ryder Care o.p.s. is a London-based international charity organization, “providing
specialized health care to people with disabilities and life-shortening
diseases.” Lady Sue Ryder, the charity’s founder, served in the UK as an
operator for operations in occupied countries during World War II. After the
1989 revolution she sent Tom Noel to scout
Prague for an
appropriate location for a senior care facility. He soon made the acquaintance of Nováková and by 1994 they had secured the
historic 15th-century Michelský dvůr building to renovate for the home.
B In 2002, three years after the senior care facility in Prague 4 was established, a private donor
stepped forward to finance a new building for Alzheimer’s patients. Plans were
drawn up, construction commenced, and the facility was expected to open. Unfortunately,
money for the Alzheimer’s project ran out after an initial investment of 18
million Kč, leaving a shortfall of
12 million Kč and a half-completed structure at the back of the Michelský dvůr.
C The home has two nursing departments with 56 places for clients for
temporary and permanent stays, with an average resident age of 86. With front and
back courtyards, a garden, a chapel, community centre, and a restaurant
offering diabetic-friendly cuisine for seniors, the home offers an alternative
to institutionalized senior care. But what makes the Home unique is that it
offers specialized geriatric nursing training for health-care workers, family
support, cultural activities, in-home care, and a day-care facility, which
offers a variety of activities, including pottery classes, memory games,
birthday parties and canis therapy.
D Alzheimer’s patients require specialized, round-the-clock care. Often
the only option is to place the patient into a public mental facility, which Nováková
says is like a death sentence, as most patients die within a few months. Nováková
estimates that 5-6 percent of all people in the Czech Republic over the age of 65
suffer from Alzheimer’s or dementia. Current estimates of occurrences of
Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in the Czech
Republic have them at similar levels to the rest of Europe, according to Nováková. Which means the problem is
equally prevalent here, but there are far fewer resources for coping with the
diseases than in Western countries.
E Because the Czech Republic is now considered to be “quite developed” by
the UK-based Sue Ryder Foundation, their funding priorities have moved to
less-developed places such as Kosovo, Malawi and Albania. At their Prague facility, the
client contribution for full-time residency is about 250-300 Kč per day, while
actual costs are closer to 900 Kč per day. The Sue Ryder Foundation UK now expects
the Czech Health Ministry to make up the shortfall.
make acquaintance – seznámit se
scout – pátrat
shortfall – deficit
twist – zlom
1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.
1 Amount of ill people
2 History of Sue Ryder Home
3 The funding has been
stopped
4 Money for the project ran
out
5 Description of the Home
2) Read the article and answer the questions.
1 What is the article about?
2 Who runs the Home and where
is it situated?
3 Describe the Home.
4 What is the occurrence of
Alzheimer’s disease?
5 What are problems of the
Home?
3) Explain the following words.
1 disability
2 permanent stay
3 diabetic-friendly
4 in-home care
5 dementia
4) Answer the following questions.
What are types of care for
seniors? What are differences among them like? What are pluses and minuses of seniors
staying at home?
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