This moving and thought-provoking documentary, which deservedly won the Best Documentary award one week ago at the UK’s Deaf film festival Deaffest, looks at the issue of care for elderly Deaf people in England.
People in Britain are living longer and there are now more older people than there are children. But levels of support vary, and one of the key arguments of this film is that there is a ‘postcode lottery’ when it comes to care. The film reminds us how important care provision is, and looks at the dilemmas facing older people.
One elderly Deaf woman is 84, and she lives alone. She’s profoundly deaf and has lived on her own since her husband died. Her son used to come and see her everyday, but then he died early, at the age of 50. We sense her loneliness, and how important her support worker from Sign Health is to her.
Meanwhile, Stephen is 88, and has mobility problems. He’s been a widower for 12 years and he’s thinking about moving to a care home. But if he does move then he’ll be leaving his local Deaf friends behind. His choice is a difficult one.
Then there is Mary, who has faced a dilemma after her husband Alan’s stroke. Also diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, she now visits him in a care home.
Through these stories, the film shows just how important care is for older Deaf people, who are far more likely to be isolated, and need support from people who are deaf aware.
The film, which is directed by Camilla Arnold and funded by the BSLBT, also asks us to consider what will happen when we ourselves reach old age, and should spark a debate. Are we all putting our heads in the sand when we consider the latter stages of our lives?
Who Cares? is essential viewing for all Deaf people.
Review by Charlie Swinbourne, Editor
Who Cares? was produced by Louis Neethling for Mutt and Jeff Pictures. It can be seen at this link on the BSL Zone website: http://www.bslzone.co.uk/bsl-zone/who-cares/
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Andy not Mr Palmer but another one
May 28, 2013
This is good. It is a point that needs making.
The hardest thing I ever did in my life was becoming a carer for my mother after she had a stroke. She was Found at 3 am unconscious on the floor at home in 1993. She was in hospital for a total of a year during which time it became clear that she was very severely disabled. In 1994 she asked me to become her carer rather than go into a home. So I moved into her house and got the necessary adaptations made.
Dealing with all the specialists required was very very difficult. Despite the fact that I was nearly fifty years old the care staff insisted in treating me like 5 year old. I had to be very firm indeed with some of them at which point they would retreat and claim that I was being unnecessarily rude. Dealing with the nurses at the hospital was unpleasant, they would try to boss me around like a child and the fact is, if you react they will threaten to have you put out!
We had FOUR Home Help (carer) visits per day, half an hour each time. Trouble was I could never count on them turning up. There were several occasions when my mother was left alone and desperate for the loo because the latest carer had not turned up. Complaints simply brought forth the standard excuse “We’re sorry but we have not got the staff”. The care plan carefully laid out by the experts was ignored. Instead the Home Helps decided what to do and I was only incidental.
Having these women in and out of the house was quite detrimental to the decor. They would ram the wheelchair through the doorways, chipping the paint and damaging the wood. The loo pan cracked from top to bottom because some fool ran into it with a commode. Another person took it upon herself to turn the fridge up to full every time she came. I would suddenly find ice in the milk!
One morning I was having breakfast in a hurry and I was ticked off by one of the Home Helps for walking about eating. In my house! Another warned me to be very careful to cook my food properly or I would get a stomach ache. This to someone who had cooked for three children on a regular basis.
My mother wasn’t very deaf but all the Home Helps were long accustomed to bellowing at HoH pensioners. I could hear them in the garden chattering away. Making phone calls was difficult of course, I used Typetalk all the time. That was when I found out that many hearing people do not like Typetalk and will go a long way to avoid getting calls.
What I am getting at here is that the standard of care was pretty low. About as basic as it gets but also the attitude of the people was wrong. There is a considerable need for good training amongst these people but all they do is whine that they have no money. While pulling down 30k a year for not doing very much, from our cash strapped National Health Service. Make no mistake, while there are many absolutely great people working for the NHS the sad fact is that they carry a bunch of lazy bastards. Most Deaf people would jump at that job and do it well, if they were allowed.
My last memory of my mother was of her going off in an ambulance after having severe stomach pains. I had used Typetalk to consult the Sister at the hospital and she decided to send an ambulance to collect mum so that they could give her treatment. The last thing I said to her was “I’ll come and see you tomorrow”. Later that night I rang to see how she was and they said she had passed away peacefully without any warning.
Amid my grief I also felt relief that it was over, after 2.5 long difficult years. But also I was very angry at the lackadaisical way these people worked. Up front they come out with all these fine statements about “The finest professional care” but the nitty gritty is that in practice they do not live up to their boastful claims. They most certainly do not know how to deal with deaf people!
So I feel that anything that raises standards for deaf people, both carers and patients, has to be a good thing. We are all getting older, inevitably some will need care. Take notice now and improve standards. Make them live up to their boasting of high standards and a professional service. Be vigilant in maintaining standards for those in care home. Because one day…
It_could_be_you.
Sarah P Reed
May 28, 2013
I believe strongly that many of us have raised our concerns including myself with my Deaf parents but often the reactions from others are usually shock at first, agreement from them that something must be done and then guess what? . Nothing. We are then left to struggle on our own.
I just hope this film will prompt ACTION from Deaf people on what they want when we get older rather than “leaving it to someone else” to do it. This has to be Deaf-led as we only know what we WANT.
handeyes
May 28, 2013
Lovely film. Thank you for reviewing it and for the link to view it. Hospice care is another area where there needs to be Deaf friendly / Deaf-centric options.
thank you louis for making the film and for the participants in it. thank u Deaf Fest for screening and awarding it and Charlie for the write up and Limping Chicken for carrying the review. and BSL Zone for making it available online. wiping the tears away from my face.
peace
patti