FORMER FINE Gael leader Michael Noonan has been praised by carers and the Alzheimer Society of Ireland for speaking out about his wife’s experience of Alzheimer’s disease.
Mr Noonan emotionally described the progression of his wife Flor's illness in an interview with Pat Kenny on RTÉ television's The Frontlineon Monday.
The Limerick East TD said if he served as minister for health again, he would be “far more effective” following the family’s experience.
“If I was there again I’d be far more effective in terms of the care of the elderly. There’s nothing like practical experience to know what you’d have to do . . . when you go through it you know what would work and what wouldn’t work.”
Mr Noonan described how he began to notice changes in his wife 12 years ago. “She’d lose her keys, she’d forget to bring her handbag with her. She’d go shopping and she couldn’t find the car in the car park.” He broke down as he explained how it became increasingly difficult to settle his wife in the evenings. “You’d end up putting her in a car like a child, driving her around for miles.”
Mr Noonan said she was now in a nursing home and her condition was at an advanced stage. However, she was comfortable and still recognised close family members intermittently.
Mr Noonan also paid tribute to the Alzheimer Society.
He had made mistakes in the early stages of caring for her and he hoped he could help others by making “a clean breast of the difficulties”. “I’m at a stage now where I think I can talk about it in a way that might be helpful to others.”
Alzheimer Society chief executive Maurice O'Connell said the recent Prime Time Investigatesprogramme on the condition, and the subsequent Frontlineinterview with Mr Noonan, highlighted the need for the Government to make dementia and Alzheimer's disease a national health priority. He said more than 100,000 people in Ireland were affected by Alzheimer's and dementia.
The Irish Hospice Foundation said more recognition was needed for the “mammoth” work done by full-time family carers. It also called for support for the fourth annual Carers Week later this month.
- A list of Carers Week events is available at www.carersweek.ie