An 87-year-old Alzheimer’s patient faces a homicide charge after he allegedly beat another Alzheimer’s patient to death at the Atria Applewood assisted living and memory care facility in Lakewood on Feb. 21. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Re: “Records: Alzheimer’s sufferer fatally beat fellow Lakewood patient,” Feb. 25 news story.
I read with sadness about the 87-year-old dementia patient who fatally beat his roommate. Aggression in dementia patients is more prevalent than most of us would like to think. My mother-in-law has been living in dementia care facilities for the last eight years. She has been both the victim and the perpetrator of aggression. On one occasion she was pushed to the floor by two other residents and beaten with a bedroom slipper. Another time she shoved her walker into a fellow resident and knocked that person to the floor. Fortunately, staff intervened promptly in both cases and no lasting harm was done. Caregivers face considerable challenges in maintaining peace and order in a population which is disoriented and lacking in impulse control.
Heather Lucero,Highlands Ranch
This letter was published in the March 8 edition.
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