The Ticking Dementia Timebomb

It's a social timebomb - and it's ticking in Wrexham.

There is going to be an explosion in the number of people suffering from the cruel affliction of dementia.

According to the Alzheimer's Society, there are 37,000 people with dementia in Wales. Wrexham alone will see a 60 per cent increase in dementia cases amongst over 75s up to 2021.

Younger people can also suffer from dementia - while rare, it can affect people in their 40s and 50s.

But this is about so much more than statistics. You ask Malcolm Crosbie, a devoted husband who knows exactly what it is like to care for a partner with Alzheimer's Disease.

With 53 wonderful years of marriage and highly successful careers, it was a traumatic time for Malcolm Crosbie to have to entrust the care of his wife Audrey, now 82, to others.

But at 79, Mr Crosbie, of Ruabon, knew he was struggling to cope physically with the demands of 24/7 caring.

Mr Crosbie has welcomed news that a pioneering specialist centre for dementia sufferers is being built by Pendine Park on the outskirts of Wrexham.

We due to open the £4million centre of excellence, Bodlondeb (place of contentment), later this year.

It will look after 64 people in family-type units and create 100 new jobs at the same time.

Mother-of-two Mrs Crosbie, a former civil service higher grade tax officer and very active charity worker, went into the Highfield unit at Pendine Parkin May 2007 and her standard of care has been a great relief to Mr Crosbie.

"I don't think I could have found a better place, they do a very difficult job wonderfully. "There's a wonderful atmosphere and I think that stems from the top. There is care with dignity and that percolates right through the staff.

"Residents are not all sitting in a lounge looking at each other. There are plenty of activities going on.

"You have Sarah Edwards, the artist in residence doing her arts and photography courses.

"She is now working with the Halle orchestra project where musicians come into the centre to work with residents.

"Then, there's Gerry Humphreys, the activities co-ordinator who puts a great emphasis on keeping everyone's mind active."

The Crosbies moved from Merseyside to Ruabon 42 years ago when Mr Crosbie was a project engineer developing a new BICC subsiduary factory in the area.

Mrs Crosbie ceased work as a civil servant to have sons Graham, 46, and Nick, 44.

When the boys left home Mrs Crosbie resumed part-time accountancy work but also threw herself into NSPCC voluntary work and set up the former Wednesday Club in Ruabon which became a meeting point for the newcomer young wives in the area.

"It's difficult to know precisely when things started happening. I didn't really pick up on it until March 2005, although Graham tells me he saw signs a little earlier," said Mr Crosbie.

"We had been over to Liverpool to my cousins where I had organised a family re-union." On a visit to a factory outlet shop, Mrs Crosbie fell getting out of the car.

"She broke her wrist and there were a lot of complications. She had to go into hospital and have an operation." And soon after her arthritis meant she had to use a wheelchair.

After a series of falls Mrs Crosbie was admitted to Chirk community hospital and while there three years ago she was diagnosed with dementia.

The change from a highly intelligent and independent woman had been gradual but Mrs Crosbie had started to lose her confidence.

"The deterioration had probably been there but when you are living with someone you don't notice it," he said.

The spell in hospital however was the start of a fairly rapid deterioration and although she recognises Malcolm most days, he says she is "in a world of her own."

But there are "flashes of brilliance" when she will remember life-long friends she has not seen for a while but the very next day does not know who they are.

Just recently the part of her brain which controls swallowing is not functioning properly, so she needs a liquid diet.

"In my experience it's like going along a plateau, on the level, and then falling off the cliff and there is a dramatic change to the next level," says Mr Crosbie.

With people living longer Mr Crosbie believes the demand for places like Bodlondeb will grow.

"Bodlondeb is a completely new concept, quite revolutionary, because it will be based on family-type units.

"You have to accept life for what it is. The last two or three years have been very difficult and when Audrey went into hospital I think I was very close to a nervous breakdown because I had been running around 24/7 and it just seemed my world had fallen apart but gradually you get used to it.

"Some of us are on the residents group at Pendine and we have an input into the activities, which is another part of the very good organisation at Pendine." Bodlondeb is the brainchild of Mario Kreft, the proprietor of Pendine Park, and his wife, Gill.

The Krefts, who will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Pendine Park later this year, entered the care sector when they were unable to find suitable residential care for their elderly grandparents.

They are working closely with one of the UK's leading dementia experts, Professor Bob Woods, from Bangor University, and the Alzheimer's Society, on Bodlondeb.

Mr Kreft said: "Bodlondeb was the name of my grandmother's house and she was a guiding light when I was growing up - she is the inspiration for the new Bodlondeb."

The centre will be managed by Ann Chapman who said: "This is a unique development because we have looked outside the box.

"Everything we do is underpinned by the importance of promoting dignity and respect.

"Facilities like Bodlondeb are going to be important to the provision of community care services as we move forward.

"Our domiciliary care company, Independent Living Options, will be providing registered care practitioners in the community and our teaching care centre will be training our own staff and assisting partners and families to care for their loved ones in their own homes.

"At the same time, we are creating a centre of excellence that will provide residential care, respite care, day care facilities and a whole range of therapies as well.

"There is no question we need more facilities both in the community and in care homes and within the NHS for people with dementia.

"Effectively, we will have a number of small care homes within a single entity with the ethos and design being informed by research that shows this is the best way to provide the facilities.

"What we are aiming for is the best of both worlds - the feel and scale of a family home allied to the expertise and resources of a larger organisation. "The units will be individually tailored to suit the needs of the residents in terms of dependency and gender.

"We are aiming to create a world class centre."