Prisoners in the Home
'I wanted my father filmed because I don't think people realise the extent of Alzheimer's disease - the effect it has on family and friends. I wonder how many people understand what life mum has, as she's a prisoner in her own home.'
At least 750,000 people in Britain suffer from
Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Most are looked after by relatives at home. 'It's like looking after a mentally subnormal 3-year-old child. How can you think of them as your husband? It's just someone that I've got to look after.'
Some of these carers use
Open Space to talk about their daily heartbreaks and struggles, and how a healthcare system never designed to cope with the problem of dementia has virtually imprisoned them at home. "The disease of the carer is enforced isolation. If that is allowed to get out of hand, the institutions just couldn't cope with the amount of people they'd have...' Photography MIKE SPOONER Film editor MIKE ROBOTHAM
Assistant producer SUE DAVIDSON Executive producer TONY LARYEA Producer ROBIN GUTCH
Made by the Community programme Unit with the Alzheimer's Disease Society o INFO: page 95