Hello

[ploppy]

My mum has Alzheimer's and she's in residential care. She has a DOLs assessment coming up and I'm attending. I agree re her capacity to make decisions re her safety etc. my question is around life sustaining treatment. Before she became incapacitated she expressed the wish for no life prolonging treatment. Will this be considered? I have LPA for her.

 

[northumbrian_k]

Hi @ploppy and welcome to Dementia Support Forum. My wife has been under a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Authorisation (DoLS) since she moved into her care home in May 2019. The sole purpose is to determine whether a person can be deprived of their liberty in the sense of being prevented from leaving the premises by a secure door. A typical test would be whether the person can weigh up complex information and make a rational decision about their living arrangements. If not, and so long as being in the care home is the least restrictive way of keeping the person safe, the Authorisation may be granted for one specific premises for up to a year, to be reviewed and renewed thereafter. It will not take account of other issues such as life sustaining treatment.

Separate from the DoLS, and acting as her Attorney for health and welfare, I have agreed an Emergency Care Plan with her care home. This basically specifies that in the event of a health downturn hospital admission is not to be considered and that she should be kept comfortable within the care home. I also discussed a statement of Do not Resuscitate with the nurse from her GP Practice and this is noted in her medical records. Taken together, I see these as confirming that life sustaining treatment would be inappropriate, given her advanced presentation of Alzheimer's Disease.