‘How can we redress and repair violence, abuse and neglect of people living with dementia in residential aged care?’ People living with dementia have been subject to significant harm, including violence, abuse, and neglect in aged care in Australia. Yet, this harm is rarely recognised and redressed. People living with dementia in aged care, as well as…
I’m a member of the Australian OPCAT Network, and with permission, am posting a revised version of the contents of an email from the network here. As people with dementia living in residential aged care which they are locked in, and segregated, they too are living in places of detention, hence my interest in OPCAT.…
Anyone who has followed me here for a while will know that in 2008, following a diagnosis made by my neurologist of a young onset dementia, I was advised to prepare to die, via aged care respite, which I ultimately trademarked as, Prescribed Disengagement. I was not supported to live well, or positively at all,…
It is difficult to believe that abuse, violence and assault including sexual assault and neglect is happening to older people and people with dementia in community and residential care, in Australia, or indeed, in any country. But it does, and the statistics are truly horrifying and hard to reckon with. Living in a rich developed…
Earlier this year, the UN Sub committee on the prevention of torture announced a visit to Australian, to inspect detention centres. For those who may not have heard of this committee, I have added the following information about their work available on their website: “The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or…
As has been common over my whole life, my views often do not reflect the majority. This is especially so in a number of areas related to dementia, and unfortunately, in this space, including amongst self-advocates, and it is sometimes uncomfortable for us all. Having a different view, a differing opinion or a different belief…
The Chief Executive Officer at Women’s Community Shelters, Annabelle Daniel OAM, wrote an interesting post on LinkedIn recently, which began with Albert Einstein’s quote: ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.’ With the greatest of respect and with very much love for the fierce and wonderful…
I’ve been watching Episode 1 (Season 1) of the series on SBS , The Blinding of Isaac Woodard, and have just ordered the book this documentary series is based on, Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of America. Watching it felt like my story, except not for being black, but…
I’m unflinchingly determined to continue to expose what I believe to be human rights violations in particular against people living with dementia, of any age, and of our families. That someone else may not see something I beleive to be a violation, or that I am accused of being wrong, or of blaming people for…
On Ageism Awareness Day 2022, I have pledged with Every Age Counts and also here: I STAND FOR A WORLD WITHOUT AGEISM To promote awareness of violence, abuse and neglect in residential aged care in Australia (and globally, I also wish to share a blog posted this week on the Dementia Justice website, on the…
Tina Minkowitz is a lawyer in the USA, who was involved in developing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Tina is also a survivor of psyiatric abuse, and a human rights lawyer, and interested in workign towards reparations for psychiatric violence, for example, for psychiatric institutionalization and abuses such as chemical…
The 15th Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP CRPD) was held in New York at UN headquarters on 14th-16th June. My blog today highlights an excellent COSP15 Side Event on Remedy and Reparation for Institutionalization, moderated by colleague and friend Tina Minkowitz, who is President of…
By Dementia Justice researchers Linda Steele and Kate Swaffer Today, my blog is to share a newly published journal article I co-authored with my friend and colleague, Dr Linda Steele on the human rights case for reparations for people living in aged care, with a focus on people living with dementia: Reparations for Harms Experienced in…
The CRPD Committee has published its “Draft guidelines on Deinstitutionalization, including in emergencies” and calls for comments on them to be submitted, by June 30th the latest! (as usual in these processes, if earlier, much better!). You can find the draft (in English) and the requirements for written comments on the CRPD Committee website here. Soon, the draft will be available…
It remains a high priority of mine, hence I have been campaigning for the deinstitutionalisation and de-segregation of people with any type of dementia of any age, and in fact, anyone of any age living in residential care for many years. This includes ‘memory units’ and ‘dementia villages’. Although two of the following Transforming Communities…
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