Do you think special ID ostracize Dementia patients and other patients?

[Apollo]

April 9, 2008

Dementia patients to get ID cards Special card with contact details could help lost patients return to their families By Theresa Tan

 

DEMENTIA patients will soon be issued with special identity cards so members of the public will be able to contact their families if these individuals are found lost or wandering.

 

The card, to be issued through the Alzheimer's Disease Association here, will debut in the second half of the year.

 

It will carry the patient's name, language spoken and his or her family's contact numbers. Other critical information, such as drug allergies, will also be included.

 

Dementia is a degenerative brain condition marked by memory lapses. As the disease worsens, patients lose the ability to care for themselves. They may require help even in daily routines such as eating and going to the toilet.

 

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. About 20,000 people are afflicted with dementia here; by 2020, the number is expected to rise to 50,000.

 

National Council of Social Service chief executive Ang Bee Lian said it is common for dementia patients to wander from their homes and become lost.

Asked how useful the card will be if dementia patients left home without it, she said idea is not foolproof but can be useful if patients are made to pin or hang the card on a lanyard around their neck before outings.

 

Sales executive Eleen Ng, 40, is familiar with the anxiety of having a loved one go missing.

 

Her 70-year-old mother, who has dementia, has lost her way 'numerous times' and even ended up at a police station after she was found wandering the streets.

 

'I used to tear my hair out and panic each time mum went missing. She doesn't even know how to answer her mobile phone when it rings,' said MadamNg, adding that her mother is no longer allowed to go out on her own.

 

The identity card is not the only such document here. More than 7,000 similar ones have been issued to the disabled, such as the intellectually disabled, by various charities here, MsAng noted.

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_225262.html

 

We do not tag criminals like rapists or even pervert stealing undies for the safety of the public some1 obviously felt it is good we tag dementia patient.

 

IMO this is a violation of human rights, because it will not end there once it started.

 

How would you feel if some1 you know is tagged a HIV patient like a dog tag?

 

Are we gg but back to medieval days?

[Simply_lex]

My vote is yes, but not because of the dog tag, rather, it may attract crime.

[Boyboy]

at the micro level, it helps. at the macro level, few pple will really care abt those issues la

 

honestly, those with dementia won't care, and the caregivers will probably be better off for it.

 

i do know someone whose elderly parent ran off from toa payoh and was miraculously found in changi. so i don't think it's a bad thing.

 

if criminals want to strike, by the time they find the special ID tag, what diff does it make?

[Boyboy]

u sure u vote yes or not? i voted no, all 3 vote for no leh.. u click wrongly?

[Simply_lex]

i did not click.

 

that's why I explained.

[Apollo]

u were complacent when u voted. r u sorry it has happened?

[Simply_lex]

I'm sorry for not providing feedback on the lousy voting system, and I'm

sorry again to say I'm not being complacent.

Edited April 9, 2008 by Simply_lex

[Pocus]

Being a caregiver for a dementia patient I'm for this.

 

I had a few case my dementia person ran off on his own and didn't come back for hours. Only realise that when I gone out for awhile. Was very panick and drive around his usual areas to find him, luckily managed to find him wandering somewhere.

 

Something like that can be very useful.

 

We cannot deny dementia patients from moving around. Binding them at home is worst than anything else. While we caregiver try our best to follow them outdoor, what about time when we are working or they sneak out at night?(dementia patients are known to lose track of time, outside pitch dark they can still think it's afternoon) Things get even complicated if they met accidents and such so such IDs will help.

 

Anyway, I felt the threadstarter's topic is very misleading. In NO way it is reported that the patients are tagged... only extra ID card given nia....not tagged or GPSed(though I'd like that) or tattooed. We all got NRIC does in mean we tagged? The special tag is only extra info.

 

Based on past threads/post, already got enough instigated hate/displeasure on society and gahmen..dun need to find more topics to create more hate.

 

perhaps it's an "honest mistake" by the TS?

 

Maybe becos not caregiver yet...no pressure, no need to care for anyone and no climbing medicial bills to worry...so eat finish very eng find topics to slam gahmen?

[Gearoil]

April 9, 2008

Dementia patients to get ID cards Special card with contact details could help lost patients return to their families By Theresa Tan

 

I think they better make BIG PLACARDS for Paronoid hallucination and Schizophrenia ex-patients of IMH who are let loose simply becos IMH don't have the budget to keep these in!

 

These are more of a danger to the public and ppl have to be warned about them!

[Apollo]

Anyway, I felt the threadstarter's topic is very misleading. In NO way it is reported that the patients are tagged... only extra ID card given nia....not tagged or GPSed(though I'd like that) or tattooed. We all got NRIC does in mean we tagged? The special tag is only extra info.

 

Asked how useful the card will be if dementia patients left home without it, she said idea is not foolproof but can be useful if patients are made to pin or hang the card on a lanyard around their neck before outings.

 

i think u mizzed parmpee 5...

[Pocus]

Ok then it's my "honest mistake"

 

But even those funky credit cards come in slings and wear like tags...I think the buggy got her idea from that.

 

But the point is that comments made when more like a suggestion than the actual implementation method so my stand is still the ID card.

Edited April 9, 2008 by Pocus

[Apollo]

np.. tis is not anti-gahmen thread. just that i feel the pple who come out this idea is taking easy way out which i dun agree.

 

i dun think there is many kind soul out there who will check if he/ she got a special tag and help out. my neighbor with down syndrome was taken away and raped becos she happened to sport the mentally challenged look. no nid tag, she was taken advantage of.

 

if there r many kind souls around, most pple wud not hv to report lost fones.

[Xefera]

how would that attrack crime? unless the patients openly hang the ID on their neck like a dog-tag

[Simply_lex]

there are kind souls around...nevertheless there are also bad apples too.

 

some may pull a quick one with...seeing your son/brother looks hungry i paid $10 and buy him

some food just now. and btw, he is with me now. something like dat.

 

would u not pay these "kind" souls the $$, or still wanna ask for receipt....

[Apollo]

possible.. if they get the person, know his name, got ur number.. remember those calls abt ur missing relative and beaten up and ask u deposit $$ in certain bank account?

 

this time around, some pple may really end up really beaten up.

[Simply_lex]

u mean they will keep in their pocket....or u will search their pocket when they

don't even remember they has this tag with them.

 

fair enough they may ask you how to get home.....

[Simply_lex]

bingo!

 

my earlier example is only mild one.

 

ADD:

 

and be prepared for the worst scenario, they will be "beo"

by such bad apples.

 

This is really creating unnecessary worries.

 

but don't we think it's also the responsibility of the care taker(hospital, family members, specialist)

to send them back? ovciously it's a take chances case.

Edited April 9, 2008 by Simply_lex

[Apollo]

i thot yesterday's propaganda "the silent scream" in Channel U was a deadpan giveaway.

 

in the show, propaganda comprain peasants leaving behind plenty of relatives inside IMH, and ard 30% of them cured liaoz but nobody wants them home.

 

it's a sad case but think of it, how many years inside there. u know how much the medical bill will add up even if it is class C ward or class E ward. unless there is a debt forgiveness, how they gg to persuade pple to bring home patients, many whom also haven family problem, $$ problem, job problem. some at tither ends, sum up social problem.

 

sometimes being a singaporean is a real a tragic. when i listen to barbara streistend's concert in 2006 CD, i hear her mention abt Jason her son, the one who comes to this world a blank page, who imitiate her good and bad, becos he loves his mother.

 

are pple imitating their parents or the gahmen 父母官 ? we have probably brought up generations of pple with deteriorated moral compass.

 

i can see why pple r abandoning their parents like pets that have greys... its a tragedy. life with little or no $$ is a tragedy.