When a 95-year-old woman is tasered in her nursing home, it’s clear our aged care system is broken. It’s clear also that our policing methods aren’t far behind. Clare Nowland was on a walking frame, she has dementia, and she was clearly frail. Somehow the police ascertained she was a violent threat and tasered her.
I am 55. There’s not many 95 year olds I wouldn’t be able to overpower if necessary. I doubt it would ever be necessary. With the right tone of voice I reckon I could disarm a confused and scared dementia patient with a cup of tea and a chat. I don’t know when the last time was that an assailant came at you with a steak knife, but coupled with a walking frame, it’s a fairly benign threat. So why did the police taser Clare Nowland? How is it even legal to carry a taser in a nursing home? Aren’t our police well trained enough to be able to disarm a 95 year old with a steak knife without the use of a weapon? If I could do it, then surely so could they. They could have simply offered her a steak, and I can guarantee that she would have been distracted. People with dementia forget what they are doing. They are easily moved from one idea to another, from one emotion to another.
There’s currently an inquiry, but we are all shocked at the brutality of the action that caused Clare to sustain such a severe head injury she is now fighting for her life. According to police guidelines a taser can be used ‘to protect yourself or others where violent confrontation or resistance is occuring or imminent.’ They are also able to be used to ‘protect an officer (s) in danger of being overpowered or to protect themselves or another person from risk of actual bodily harm’.
I’ve worked with people with dementia. I never once thought ‘I need a taser for protection’. People with dementia can become confused and distressed. Nursing homes are scary and disorienting places. If you were locked away in an institution full of other confused and distressed people, chances are you might act out. Kindnesses, a soothing voice, human touch, are all techniques that might reassure you. And if that doesn’t work, I guess there’s always mild sedation.
We put our elderly into aged care for their protection when they can no longer care for themselves, or their family can no longer care for them. But it’s clear, many aged care facilities are understaffed, or their staff don’t have sufficient training to cope with the stress. My initial surprise in this story was that police were even called. I’m untrained, but there are many ways to disarm a 95 year old on a walking frame. One is to just leave her alone. Put others into safety and leave her be. Chances are she’ll forget what she’s doing and go back to her room.
In the aftermath of this incident at Cooma another popped up on my newsfeed, detailing the story of an 81-year-old woman with dementia who was detained by six police officers – and two sets of handcuffs – when she took a lanyard from a staff member at a Sydney nursing home. I checked which nursing home. It’s where my mother-in-law is. I’ve been there many times. It’s not some dingy facility. This place took a million dollar bond. The residents aren’t rich, the facilities just take advantage of the lucrative real estate market that has modest family homes fetching millions. Why would you call the police to get a lanyard off a 45-kilo woman? And why would it take six police? It’s overreach. It’s brutal. It’s failure. It’s a nursing ‘home’, not a nursing ‘prison’. These places are supposed to be the final place of residence. The people living there are vulnerable. They are not criminals. So why are we suddenly criminalising the elderly?
If nursing homes are calling the police to attend an incident they should be able to manage themselves then something is very wrong. And why are residents, in their often confused and disoriented state feeling pushed to the brink? Isn’t this the place charged with their protection? Why aren’t they being protected? And most importantly – why are they so desperate and unhappy?
We have to do so much better. Nursing homes shouldn’t be run like prisons. And the police, if ever called, need to be trained to operate with kindness and compassion. And here’s an idea: No tasers, or handcuffs, in a nursing home.
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