When your family is reeling from a diagnosis of dementia you need all the help you can get. The diagnosis is viewed as a terminal illness, and comes with the unwelcome promise of distressing times ahead: a slow decline and all the worrying potential symptoms, from character changes to memory loss and aggressive behaviour.
So the offer of a discount on council tax is one many relatives are keen to take up.
But the wording of the forms you need to fill in to request an exemption or reduction is harsh. “Severe mental impairment”, is the category your relative suddenly falls under.
Worse, the form needs a certificate from a doctor to confirm eligibility. In doing so they have to confirm they are satisfied their patient has a “permanent severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning”.
Its hardly what you want to hear when you are trying to come to terms with devastating news. It isn’t even accurate, given that many people who suffer the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, for example, retain their intelligence for some time. How do we define intelligence, anyway? Someone who has early symptoms of Alzheimer’s may be forgetful, and may struggle to learn new information. But they can still be able to make clear decisions and express rational opinions.
The unhelpful official terminology is also used for those claiming help due to severe mental illness.
Charities representing sufferers have concerns. When Inverclyde MP Ronnie Cowan took up the issue on behalf of a constituent whose husband suffered with dementia, Alzheimer Scotland told him “there is no doubt that the language is negative and stigmatising.” At worst it could put people off even applying for financial help which they need and are entitled to, the charity says. It told Mr Cowan: “These provisions are now over 25 years old but are not the only example of the use of negative and stigmatising language in our legal frameworks and across a whole range areas of law.”
It isn’t just Inverclyde Council which uses this terminology. Because council tax reductions are written into law, all local authorities ask for declarations in similar terms
Mr Cowan believes the wording is outdated, offensive and insulting , and has written to minister for Public Health, Derek Mackay asking for it to be looked at. Mr Mackay has written back, but with unhelpful news. While he recognises that the language is potentially stigmatising and “anachronistic”, changing the official terminology would require primary legislation and there is no space in the SNP’s busy Programme for Government at present to allow that.
It does seem odd that in a day and age when anxiety about stigmatising people has led to terms like “learning disability” and “special educational needs”, someone struggling with dementia can be branded as having “severe mental impairment.” For the time being, the minister is asking officials to look for a more modern wording and urge local authorities to use it.
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