reader Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 From MSN British families are sending elderly relatives with dementia overseas to Thailand in a small but growing trend. Researchers visiting private care homes in Chiang Mai have found eight homes where guests from the UK are living thousands of miles away from their families, because suitable care in their home country was impossible to find or afford. “Thailand already has a long history of medical tourism and it’s now setting itself up as an international hub for dementia care,” said Dr Caleb Johnston, a senior lecturer in human geography at Newcastle University. Some of the facilities are British-run; some are Thai-run but with substantial investment from British citizens; and some are Swiss-run. All have the backing and support of the Thai government. “The government and private investors are very active in cultivating this as part of their economic development,” Johnston added. There are an estimated 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK. Local authority residential care costs up to £700 a week, with private care around £1,000. There are no prescribed staff-to-guest ratios in the UK but, with annual staff turnover exceeding 30% and 122,000 job vacancies, levels in state and private facilities tend to be around 1:6. In Thailand, in contrast, 1:1 around-the-clock residential care with fully-qualified staff – in award-winning facilities that look like four-star hotels – costs around £750 a week. Johnston spent nine weeks in Thailand along with Prof Geraldine Pratt, head of geography at the University of British Columbia, interviewing families and staff in residential care homes. Paul Edwards, the director of clinical services at Dementia UK, said: “I can well understand people choosing this option, given the state of anxiety about care in the UK. “It’s an emerging market that I can see becoming more popular because our failing and ailing system – which no politician is even trying to find a solution for – causes fear for those whose loved ones have to use it.” “It’s an emerging market that I can see becoming more popular because our failing and ailing system – which no politician is even trying to find a solution for – causes fear for those whose loved ones have to use it.” Nonetheless, those who take their loved ones abroad talk of the distress in having to choose between the physical, emotional and financial hardships of caring for them in the UK and outsourcing their care to the other side of the world. Continues at https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/families-sending-relatives-with-dementia-to-thailand-for-care/ar-BBYT7lT?li=BBoPRmx vinapu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggobkk Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 Suspect this isn't only a British trend. I visit a US couple when I'm in Pattaya. One of the partners is deep into the grasp of dementia. His partner found the cost of 24/7 care in Texas to be prohibitive. He took the initiative and moved them to Thailand where carers were available and affordable. vinapu and reader 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
