many in the community consider the most painful part of dementia to be the loss of treasured memories, the truth is that the most painful aspect is fear of the future. Our current Age Care landscape has only one government funded pathway of support and care for advancing dementia which is institutionalisation.

SIRS data shows that violence including sexual assault is common within these settings. The likelihood of a person experiencing a reportable incident is 15-19% in any given year. Many of these violent and sexual assaults are considered to have had no harm to the victim.

many institutions implement policies that deny residents access to close relationships, often at the direction of substitute decision makers
older people are not protected from sexual assault, but they are often not permitted consensual and safe relationships either.

The threat of ‘institutionalisation’ is one of the most common levers in elder abuse. Women fear becoming a victim. Men fear becoming perpetrators, yet we are powerless to advocate for ourselves. Powerless to preserve the integrity of the ethics, morals and standards that we have lived our lives by.

I want to take an active role in preserving my dignity and safety into the future. I want to be supported to access my human rights and to meet my human responsibilities to others.
I do not want to be
Homogenised
Collateralised and
institutionalised
Instead, i ask for a robust mechanism where my wishes for my own future will be supported and respected. Advance Social Directive