CATHERINE LEEN, DUBLIN
“My mum grew up by the sea in Kerry. She loves the sea. She moved to Dublin when she was 17 and worked in the Revenue Commissioners all her life. When she retired, I started to notice a difference. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last year and it was a big shock. We were given a dementia homecare package however and it’s been amazing. The girl comes to the house 13 hours a week. Just having a few hours is brilliant. It’s personalised to what my mum needs every day. Before that, sometimes I’d come from work and she hadn’t eaten anything. She always looked after her grandkids after school and now she is being supported to continue doing this, three days a week.” - Paula, Catherine’s daughter
Catherine is stylish and softly spoken. She had a busy career in the Revenue. She loved her work and loved the people she worked with. In 2018, she was diagnosed with dementia (Alzheimer’s). Her daughter Paula is the primary family carer. The HSE with support from Genio provided a dementia-specific homecare package as part of their programme to develop personalised, community-based services for people with dementia. For Paula, this support has meant that the family can come to terms with Catherine’s diagnosis and establish a routine that maintains Catherine in her home and community life, in so far as is possible. This support also helps Catherine to continue caring for her grandchildren, who she adores, after school. If Catherine was in a nursing home she would be receiving 24/7 professional support and be at risk of becoming isolated from her friends and community where she has lived for decades.