In this assignment, I researched about the health problem, dementia. Dementia is one of the serious health problems Australia encounters. This is due to the fact that the aging of population in Australia is increasing. Thus, the number of people who are diagnosed as dementia is increasing every year. Brown & Edwards (2005) suggested that there are approximately 18,000 new cases of dementia in Australia every year. Harris, Nagy and Vardaxis (2006) stated ¡®dementia is a progressive organic mental disorder characterised by chronic personality disintegration, confusion, disorientation, stupor, deterioration of intellectual capacity and function, and impairment of control of memory£¬ judgement and impulses.¡¯ (p.501) Brown& Edwards (2005) …show more content…
Dementia people are usually stayed in the nursing home. It is because their families are not able to take care of them, for physical or time reason. The effect of dementia brings out heavy economic, mental burden to the individual, family, caregivers and the whole society. (Brown & Edwards, 2005)Brown & Edwards (2005) stated ¡®In 2002-2003 the Australian government estimated total expenditure on residential aged care subsidies as $4.3 billion.¡¯ However, much health expenditure is not specifically attributed to dementia in hospital and other health service statistics. Moreover, Brown & Edwards (2005) pointed out that ¡®Residential care is costed at eight different levels of resident dependency.¡¯ High level residential care is primarily provided in nursing homes, low level residential care is provided in hostels, and community care is provided for aged clients in their homes. Dementia leads individuals to lose their live experiences, not only does it bring the financial cost to the families, but also the responsibilities to the caregivers.
A range of community programs are adopted by the Australian government to solve the problem of dementia. These include income support, social and community services, disability programs, and housing assistance
The development of a dementia environment approach will highly impact the improvement of life of people living with dementia involving their family and carers, evidently reducing the stigma linked with the condition. The need to physically and socially design an approach for the progressing ageing population, and better comprehension of the issues affecting the dementia suffering elderly. Life Community Village is a specially designed and self-contained village for dementia-affected people imitating a normal daily life. It visions a change of approach in dementia care in the future and cope with the growing number of issues of dementia in the ageing population. Its mission on the other hand, is focused on delivering a holistic and person-centric approach by leading and optimizing a normal life for dementia-suffering elderly. Also providing a dementia-friendly community and creating a society that the dementia-suffering person can engage in. In the current increasing population of older Australians, there is over a million that has received a form of aged care support and services every year. This is provided through the collaboration of funding and administration of the local, state and federal government. Meanwhile, according to Australian statistics, there are more than 353,800 who are living with dementia. In less than five years, it is projected to rise to 400,000; and due to the fact that there is currently no cure for the condition, and with the
Dementia Syndrome is a condition caused by a set of symptoms. These symptoms can include but are not limited to: - memory loss, mood changes, communication difficulties, difficulty understanding or thinking.
Individuals diagnosed with dementia have to face with the prospect of gradual loss of the capacity to make their own decisions. They need to think about and make their choises about care, treatment and money when they are not able to speak for themselves at some time in the future.
Dementia does not only impact the people with symptoms and it also disturbs the people who must care for the person. It is estimated that 1.2 million people are involved in the care of people with dementia. It has a financial burden on the Australian economy $4.9 billion in 2009-10. (1)
The term ‘dementia’ is used to describe a syndrome associated with an ongoing decline of the brain and its abilities. This includes problems with memory loss, thinking speed, mental agility, language, understanding, and judgment. People with dementia can become apathetic or uninterested in their usual activities, and have problems controlling their emotion. They also fine social situation challenging, lose interest in socialising and aspect of their personality may change. The majority of people who are diagnosed with dementia have either Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia, or a combination of the two. (Source 1) As the disease progresses, the person experiencing dementia becomes more vulnerable and their needs often complex; which requires appropriate care and management (Kitwood, 1997).this leads me to the next distinctive feature of patients with dementia.
Living with dementia can be overwhelming, stressful and emotional. There is a lot to take in, appointments and assessments to attend, sorting out what support you are entitled to, care preparation, wishes and preferences.
Unit-4, Q3. Explain how negative beliefs, values and misunderstandings can affect a person's attitude towards people with dementia. Unit-4, Q4. Explain how positive beliefs and values can affect a person's attitude towards a people with dementia. Unit-4, Q5. Describe the steps you can take to ensure a person with dementia feels valued , included and able to engage in daily life. Unit-4, Q6. Describe the practices that could make a person with dementia feel excluded. Unit-4, Q7. Explain why it is important to include individuals with dementia in all aspects of their care. Unit-4, Q8. Describe how an older person's experience of dementia may be different to a younger person who develops dementia. Unit-4, Q9. Mr Singh is a 75 year old gentleman who moved to England from India when he was in his 30s. Mr Singh is a practicing Sikh. He does speak English but because of his dementia he has reverted to only speaking in Punjabi. Describe the steps you could take to gain knowledge and understanding of Mr Singh's needs and preferences. Unit-4, Q10. Sophie is a 39 year old lady who has Down's syndrome. She has also developed dementia which is progressing quite quickly. Sophie has been admitted to a care facility which specialises in supporting people who have learning disabilities and also have dementia. Describe the knowledge and understanding that the staff would need in order to work in a person-centred way with Sophie.
This essay will aim to introduce the term dementia including the types, causes, prevalence, young onset and models of care. This essay will continue to address what skill could be implemented to provide person centred care with understanding of health promotion and recovery concepts.
The main motives include providing more knowledge and understanding of dementia and also its effect on behaviour as well as it progression rate. Provide carers with an impressive understanding of available local support services and how they can be accessed. It also aims at assisting in surpassing the shock relating to an initial diagnosis of dementia as well as ways to maximize life and well-being.
The intent of this paper will be to explain what Long-Term Care is and what Alzheimer 's disease is. This information will be followed up with an explanation of what services are available for long-term care and Alzheimer 's patients, the cost associated with caring for an Alzheimer 's patient, and how these services are financed.
The patient presents with dementia, poor posture (her chin close to her chest) and dislikes solids, there for has to be assisted to feed and chooses only to consume liquids. Her communication skills are also poor and doesn’t have the capacity to engage in a flowing conversation but has the ability to answer a question using the words ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or by saying individual words. I was given the task of feeding the patient at lunch time as she requires one to one support at meal times due to her lack of willingness to consume solids and fluids. It is extremely important to maintain good fluid intake to reduce the chance of dehydration which could contribute to increased confusion in a dementia patient. To prevent this,
Dementia is considered globally health challenge. A significant increase of people having dementia is increasing yearly which is proportion to the population of New Zealand. According to Ministry of Health (n.d), dementia means loss of memory function due to the physical change of the brain. Extensive research and further improvement of the services particularly on dementia care is being conducted every year by the New Zealand Ministry of health as a counter action to the dilemma. Thus creating the structure or framework for dementia care in New Zealand is helpful and it was immediately used as a reference for all the services related to Dementia care.
As of 2010, an estimated 5.1 million Americans were affected by Alzheimer’s Dementia and related Dementias (Hebert et al., 2003). Dementia is a syndrome that results in decline of memory and at least one other cognitive ability, significant enough to interfere with daily life activities (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Many individuals engage in pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies to ameliorate the symptoms of dementia and improve quality of life for the individual and their caregivers. Traditional non-pharmacological therapies typically address quantitative behavioral goals such as improving a client’s memory. A client’s sense of self or identity is typically not prioritized in therapy (Basting, 2003). Sense of self
The research done to date on the impact of one’s environment on how well they adjust to residential settings for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients, seems to indicate that there definitely exists a strong correlation between the individual and their ability to adapt to the residential setting. One of the key factors
For this observation paper I decided to observe one of the specialty wings at my work. I never got the opportunity to work on the Alzheimer and Dementia wing in the two years that I have worked there. At Oakridge, they offer three rehabilitation wings, a nursing home wing, two assisted living areas and a dementia care unit. The care team only places aids who can provide long term consistent care to these memory care residents. Studies have shown that the consistent care and caregivers provided to these residents have reduced dementia and Alzheimer induce behaviors.