This soliloquy from Shakespeare’s As You Like It has special resonance for me today. I came across author Terry Pratchett, much admired for his Discworld novels on the radio. He has spoken recently of his diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative brain condition usually affecting older people. I have a long standing interest in this area which started in 1990 when I was studying to be a Social Worker and worked in a placement at a very progressive Elderly Person’s Home in Bransholme, Hull. Moreover, on a personal note, as a Type 1 Diabetic of 32 years now, I have a higher than average risk of developing the condition myself.
The programme gave coverage to Pratchett’s discussion with a number of others with the disease, and a carer, who were discussing the personal impact of the condition. I feel I must congratulate BBC Radio Five Live for the piece, as the nature of the dementia means that the limited media exposure granted before could only be usually given to the carers rather than the victims themselves. The contributors discussed the challenges, problems and positives they face and the programme was very moving. I would encourage everyone to listen to the discussion. Terry Pratchett and Alzheimer’s
It seems that much of the improvement, or perhaps more accurately, the slowing of the progress of the condition, belongs to drugs such as Aricept (donepezil). There has been much controversy in the UK that this medicine has been denied to many patients with early onset Alzheimer’s on grounds of cost. I think, as a disabled person, very optimistically of the change from the Medical Model of Disability to the Social Model. Society can, in many ways, now treat us with more equality. However, in this 21st century, I believe there is a rise in something that I call the Economic Model of Disability. Here many disabled individuals are denied improvement in their conditions through costs of treatment and/or poverty because holders of resources see situations entirely through Cost/Benefit Analysis spectacles!
