(MCT) TOKYO – Life as evacuees from the Great East Japan Earthquake has been extremely hard for elderly people with dementia, many of whom appear to be deteriorating as a result of stress.
Experts predict that within 30 years, 10 percent of the people in Japan will have dementia, making care for the elderly a vital aspect of disaster preparedness that some feel requires closer attention.
Staff and 18 residents of Senior Garden, a group home for aged dementia sufferers in Tomiokamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, had to evacuate the premises on March 12 due to the troubles at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
They moved into the building of a soba noodle shop in Kawauchimura in the prefecture.
Frequent aftershocks caused many of the residents to develop extreme anxiety and panic. One wanted to go to the toilet every 30 minutes. Another wandered around the room, repeating over and over, “I want to go back. I want to go back.” Another resident began singing loudly.
The staff tried their best to calm the residents down, but manager Yoko Suzuki, 61, realized it would be difficult to care for the residents in the noodle shop.
Four days later, the group relocated to a nursing home in Fukushima. Even though the living environment there was much better, the residents’ conditions continued to deteriorate.
A 100-year-old man said, “It’s more terrifying than wartime.” He was constantly scared and wandered around the home at night. He was eventually hospitalized with a high fever.
An 86-year-old man once ran out of the building without shoes, and was not found until an hour later by police. He developed a gastric ulcer and began coughing up blood, at which point he too was hospitalized.
“The changes to their lifestyle were too drastic,” Suzuki said.
The residents are now staying with staff in eight apartments in Fukushima that Suzuki rented for use as a temporary group home.
“The residents have finally calmed down,” she said. “But I want to move them back to a group home like before, with individual rooms, as soon as possible.”
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