Question

Magdalene is 72 years old and lives with her husband, Spiros. Magdalene and Spiros immigrated to Australia from Cyprus three years ago to be closer to their children and have not yet become citizens.

A little more than a year ago several members of her immediate family noticed she seemed to be having some short-term memory problems. Magdalene visited her general practitioner who arranged for her to be assessed. She was diagnosed with dementia. Soon after she began wandering from the house and having difficulty finding her way home. On several occasions, she injured herself while performing routine daily chores.

Six months ago, Magdalene’s family decided that it was no longer possible for Magdalene to live at home.

To protect Magdalene and make life easier for Spiros, Magdalene was moved to a nursing home specialising in dementia care. Magdalene did not respond well to the move and the situation has been made more difficult because she has lost her ability to communicate in English. Memory problems have caused her to revert to her native Greek. Spiros has needed support from family and friends to deal with the stigma of mental illness affecting his wife and to understand the workings of the mental health sector.

Question - Magdalene, Spiros and their children have certain legal and ethical rights in regards to the support offered to Magdalene. Outline the legal rights for the following legislation: discrimination, human rights and mandatory reporting. (Approx. 80 words).

Answer 1

PANEL - Provides framework for important elements that will save the rights of people with dementia

P - Participation (people with dementia and their caregivers can participate in all decisions that would effect their life )

A- Accountability (people with dementia should be able to excerisee thier human rights)

N - Non discrimination and equality (people with dementia should be free from discrimination such as age ,race , religious beliefs )

E - empowerment (they should be empowered to claim their rights rather than waiting for policies, legislation)

L - legality ( all rights should linked with human rights standards )