Health and Social CareDelivery for People withDementiaAn Academic presentation by
Dr. Nancy Agnes, Head, Technical Operations, Tutors India
Group: www.tutorsindia.com
Email: [email protected]
Introduction
Defining Dementia
Care Delivery
Conclusion
Outline
TODAY'S DISCUSSION
Disabilities can be caused by several factors and oneof the leading causes of disability amongst the elderlypopulation has been recognized as dementia.
It has also been observed that the prevalence ofdementia tends to double during a span of twentyyears wherein the estimated costs of the grossdomestic product is pegged at 1 per cent.
The necessities of people suffering with dementia arequite cumulative, chronic and they warrant supportfrom social and healthcare and also from care-giversfrom the family.
INTRODUCTION
Contd...
Dementia is known to make a deep societal impact and theadvantages presented by prioritizing early identification of patientsare quite well-rehearsed.
This would comprise of predicting the future requirements ofpatients and their families and also access to interventions at anearly stage.
Psychosocial interventions and utilizing medications within primarycare for people with dementia tends to provide substantialadvantages for enhancing the level of care that is provided.
Contd...
It has been stated by Alzheimer’s Society that thenumber of people in the UK who have beendiagnosed with dementia totals around 850,000.
The authors further state that this number wouldwitness an exponential increase over theforthcoming decades.
As a matter of fact, goes on to add that one out ofevery three individuals who have been born in 2015would tend to develop dementia during the course oftheir life.
Contd...
Such statistics tend to draw the attention on the growing issue ofdementia within the UK thus rendering it significant for diversesocial and healthcare professionals to provide health and socialcare in an effective manner to individuals suffering from dementia.
This brief essay will deliberate about social and healthcare deliveryto individuals with dementia on the basis of a bio-psychosocialviewpoint.
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Figure 1: Global Incidence of Dementia
Dementia has been defined by NICE guideline as a ratherprogressive as well as irreversible clinical syndrome that causesdiverse kinds of damages to mental functions like, loss ofmemory, disorientation, language impairments, challenges inexecuting day-to-day activities, self-neglect, personality changes,out of character behaviours and psychiatric symptoms.
On the basis of this definition, it becomes clear as to the mannerin which dementia is known to impact not just the physical orbiological facets of the health of an individual but also thesociological and psychological facets.
DEFINING DEMENTIA
Contd...
Tackling these are of much significance as it has been stated by theWorld Health Organization (WHO) that health refers to state ofoverall mental, social and physical well-being and does notexclusively refer to a lack of infirmity or disease.
However, it would also make sense to mention that as of nowdementia is incurable.
This is mainly owing to the fact that dementia is an outcome ofvarious underlying health conditions.
Contd...
Therefore, it is not possible to have a single cure for all kinds of dementia.
The several kinds of dementia would comprise of; vascular dementia, frontotemporaldementia, Alzheimer’s (the most common form), dementia with lewy bodies andseveral others.
There is scope for deliberating that the focus in terms of provisionof care for people with dementia would be to assist them to copeand manage their condition in a highly effective manner, whilepreventing complications as well as other challenges associatedwith health that would be an outcome of a gradual progression ofsymptoms and illness.
It has been stated by Handley, Bunn and Goodman that social andhealth care professionals should focus more on sustaining theindependence of patients as much as possible while tackling thechallenges confronted by patients in terms of their day-to-dayfunctioning, in order to increase their functionality while reducingthe need for support.
CARE DELIVERY
Contd...
It would also be critical to stress upon the fact that care managementin dementia is rather individualistic as all individuals with dementiamight be confronted with distinct challenges related to their ailmentand this would largely hinge on the stage and nature of their disease.
From a psychosocial viewpoint, the argument that people who havebeen diagnosed with dementia tend to suffer negative feelings withregards to their diagnosis, does hold true.
Contd...
In the likely instance that the patient happens to be a female who hasbeen diagnosed with dementia recently, it would be important on thepart of social and healthcare professionals to provide the patient andher family with adequate information that would allow them to betterunderstand the disease and thus be better prepared to cope with thechanges that the patient and her family members might experience asan outcome of the diagnosis of dementia of the patient.
This argument is supported with a cross-sectional study that wascarried out by Lee, Roen and Thornton which found that it wasnecessary for people with dementia to be in a position to understandand derive sense from their diagnosis as this would prove to behelpful to them in effectively tackling issues pertaining to the requiredadjustments they would have to undergo as an outcome of theirailment.
Care management in dementia would comprise oftackling the psychosocial and biological effects thatemerge due to the condition.
The focus in terms of care delivery should be directedat assisting the patient to sustain their functionalitywithout any unnecessary complications andeffectively allowing the patient and the family to copewith the condition.
CONLCUSION
Contd...
Social as well as healthcare professionals need to make sure thatinterventions of care are largely personalized which indicate that thestage of dementia and the required concerns and necessities ofpatients should be initially identified using diverse strategies andtools.
Offering information to the patient as well as his or her family is criticalas it allows them to get better insights about the condition and thuscircumvent any burden or stigma associated with dementia.
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