Dementia in Prison

[Guest guest]

Eeek! you think having dementia is bad -- imagine having dementia in prison! How

scary!

via Alzheimer's Daily News

Dementia Behind Bars Makes Caregivers of Killers

2/26/12

(Source: New York Times) - Convicted killer, Secel Montgomery, Sr., has recently

been entrusted with an extraordinary responsibility. He and other felons at the

California Men's Colony help care for prisoners with Alzheimer's disease and

other types of dementia, assisting them with the most intimate tasks: showering,

shaving, applying deodorant, even changing adult diapers.

More inmates have dementia than prison officials realize, experts say. Dementia

in prison is an underreported but fast-growing phenomenon, one that many prisons

are desperately unprepared to handle. As more and more older people are being

sent to prison, given long sentences and as time goes on and the prisoners age,

the populations of older prisoners continue to increase.

With many prisons already overcrowded and understaffed, inmates with dementia

present an especially difficult challenge. They are expensive - medical costs

for older inmates range from three to nine times as much as those for younger

inmates. They must be protected from predatory prisoners. And because dementia

makes them paranoid or confused, feelings exacerbated by the confines of prison,

some attack staff members or other inmates, or unwittingly provoke fights by

wandering into someone else's cell.

At the California Men's Colony prisoners who help inmates with dementia are

called Gold Coats. They wear yellow jackets that contrast with the

standard-issue blue. But without them, explained Cheryl Steed, " we wouldn't be

able to care for our dementia patients very well. " Gold Coats are paid $50 a

month and have better knowledge of impaired prisoners' conditions than many

prison guards. They are trained by the Alzheimer's Association and given thick

manuals on dementia. The program was started in 2009 and there are currently six

Gold Coats for about 40 inmates.

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