"This uplifting, enlightening account of inter-generational living presents a powerful, poignant case for changing the way people with dementia are cared for. "
In The Housemates: Everything One Student learnt about Love, Care and Dementia, Teun Toebes shares powerful personal insights into how people with dementia are treated. As he states in the introduction, it’s a “heartfelt indictment, not against the care sector, but against the way our society views people with dementia. Is it a devastating indictment? Absolutely, because life in a nursing home is devastating – it’s something I encounter every day.”
At the age of 21, broke nursing student Teun Toebes rented a room in a care home. Living there as a resident, rather than as a student or carer, the experience was truly transformational for Toebes and his fellow residents. After becoming part of the community and introducing little changes with big impact (sitting in the sun, Friday drinks, going on outings), Toebes could see the debilitating shortfalls of how people with dementia are treated. Rather than accepting the argument that we stick to doing things a certain way “because this is how things are done”, he shows it’s better to ask “why are things done like that?”, and suggests we all ask ourselves, “How would you like to be cared for?”
Ultimately, through its representation of care home realities, and its powerful call for change, The Housemates is underpinned by a positive aim: “I hope my story will lead to dialogue and new insights, so that together we can make some much-needed improvements to the care we provide for people with dementia. We need to show that those living with dementia can still have a meaningful life; once we realise this as a society, the nursing home – my home – will have a hopeful future”. Hear, hear to that.
Written with clarity and compassion, The Housemates is nothing but stirring and filled with humanity.
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
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