CHELTENHAM, England, June 4 (UPI) -- A U.S. sociologist who specializes in Alzheimer's care says the level of care given to Alzheimer's patients in Britain needs to be improved dramatically.
Zeisel, who runs a number of Alzheimer's treatment programs in the United States, spoke Wednesday at The Times Cheltenham Science Festival in the county of Gloucestershire. He said many British care homes and Alzheimer's treatment programs are very outdated in their approach to the affliction, The Times of London reported.
Zeisel told The Times the treatment of Alzheimer's sufferers needs to focus less on medication and more on improving patients' overall skills.
"There needs to be far more non-pharmacological treatment that must be built on people's capacity -- building on the skills that are left, not just trying to fix the functions that people have been robbed of," he said. "Otherwise, we leave people to languish in settings that do nothing for them, have no meaning, and they just wilt away."
The Hearthstone Alzheimer Care president told The Times a number of Alzheimer's patients in the United States showed marked improvement in certain skills when allowed to visit art galleries and theaters.
