[Mr. Bill Olner in the Chair] — Elderly Mentally Ill People

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 9:30 am on 15 January 2008.

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Photo of Vincent Cable Vincent Cable Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Treasury) 9:30, 15 January 2008

That is exactly the point, but I would go beyond it. The philosophy that underlies the unit is not simply that of finding the right medication but that in many cases medication is actually unnecessary, and that, with sophisticated treatment, patients can be managed in a much more humane way and without extensive medication. The unit at St. John's concentrates on two things: one is the built environment. That may sound rather fanciful, but enormous attention is paid to the design of the building, lighting and colours in order to introduce a calming environment.

Also, the unit is an oasis of peace. Instead of the noise that is frequently oppressive in many residential homes and general hospitals, great attention is paid to trying to keep patients calm at all times. Because the environment is carefully managed, patients are more easily managed. Even extreme conditions can be handled in a much more civilised and dignified way than is often the case when people are simply pumped with drugs.

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Nick Heap
Posted on 16 Jan 2008 2:31 pm (Report this annotation)

It is very inspiring to hear about things that work well. (This is the core idea of Appreciative Inquiry http://ai.cwru.edu) They are so simple too a nice environment and an oasis of peace! Especially this is so when the conventional "wisdom" is that there is nothing you can do about dementia. Thank you for telling this story.

Perhaps a next step is to consider what a nice environment and oasis of peace could do for suffers of other mental illnesses. Could it be that deadening drugs are not necessary there either?