Every older people suffering from dementia or any mental illness should contribute to decision-making process if able on about the services the resident gets and is empowered to practice choice and control over his or her way of life. Healthcare professionals need to offer residents with dementia significant parts in making their own particular care plans. We should give the majority of the residents as much decision as possible around both their care and environment.
Anne Hoolahan, Janelle Brodaty, Daniel O’Connor 2013 ‘Care planning practices for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in residential aged care’ Vol.44. pp 156-169.
Dementia is a neurodegenerative disorder that is causing more negative consequences (i.e. economically, socially, and psychologically) than what is being anticipated. As a non-treatable and prominent disorder affecting a vast population, researchers are in desperate need to prove the effectiveness of different interventions proposed to demented patients. The importance of accurate diagnosis and successful development of intervention techniques have hence brought forward the necessity to evaluate the targeted population receiving different interventions. Up to date, depression and dementia are critical issues in mental health of old age, while QOL is also another major assessment scale applied to measure patients’ subjective well-being. Since previous literatures have indicated inconsistent findings regarding the relationship among the three factors: dementia, depression, and quality of life; this present study aims to investigate the association between the two factors (depression and quality of life) among elderly patients with dementia attending day care centers. In the end, four major hypotheses were formed based on previous literatures. First of all, it is likely that there will be a high degree of agreement between caregivers’ and patients’ report on the quality of life scale. On top of that, it is likely for patients with higher cognitive functioning to show better quality of life; whereas higher depression scores (more depressed) are likely to be correlated to poorer quality of life. Lastly, there may be some degree of association between severity of cognitive functioning and depression level. As for the control group, participants without dementia are likely to show lower depressive mood and better quality of life than pat...
During the course of this year one in four people will experience a mental health problem. There is a lot of confusion over what mental health is and the best ways to help those who are in need. With reference to social policy provision this essay will analyse, what provisions are made for those people who suffer from mental health, and explore if there is a direct link between mental health and poverty, what is meant by mental health, what are the mental health policies and what are the relevant aspects in today’s human right frameworks?
Mental health is not just an absence of mental illness. It includes how people cope with their lives and how interactions take place through each individual’s ability to think, act and feel. This means that each person has a unique set of experiences that determines the stability of their mental health status. Due to its singular nature, it has become a major public health concern.
Of the many illnesses know today, Alzheimer’s has an effect not only on the patient but on the caregiver or nurse as well. Many journal articles, papers, and books discuss the impact on the role of the nurse and the Alzheimer’s patient. These articles show that over time the impact of this disease puts the nurse out of his or her homeostasis. Through the process of the disease the ability to control and maintain ones self stability is somewhat overwhelming and can lead to depression of the nurse caring for the patient in most cases. Depression and frustration usually comes from the fact that the Alzheimer’s patient’s mental and physical health is gradually dwindling away, and the caregiver or nurse feels helpless. This helplessness comes from the fact that the nurse or caregiver is showing care, compassion, and using all the knowledge he or she has, yet the nurse sees little to no progress in the person because the disease process is taking over. “One caregiver described the disease as being a long journey in which the undeniable end is death, no fixed route, and no estimated time of departure” (Morton, 2003 p.262).
For the purpose of this report, the subject will be CareKind, a home care agency which specialises in Dementia and cognitive decline. It is a relatively new company, having only been operating for 10 months. The policies and procedures were written by a partner of the company to incorporate the needs of the business and the financial constraints of the current climate. It is a business in its infancy and has had to completely build a client base.
Dementia describes a chronic or persistent blend of symptoms that lead to the eventual decline in mental ability. Dementia’s symptoms are caused by brain disease and/or related injuries that can potentially lead to a decline in mental health that is extreme enough to interfere drastically with daily routines. At least two severe impairments of either; memory, communication, focus, perception and judgement are enough to be considered for the development of dementia. According to Alzheimer’s Australia1 - approximately over 353,800 Australian civilians have dementia, which is widely expected to increase to 400,000 in the next five years. Alzheimer’s Australia1 also believes that if a cure is not developed, the number of Australian’s living with dementia will increase to an approximate 900,000 by 2050.
Dementia is a syndrome, which is usually of a chronic or progressive nature, which causes deterioration in cognitive function. It goes beyond what is expected from normal aging. It causes changes in what you remember, like appointments, or phone numbers. It may cause you to get lost in a familiar setting like driving to the grocery store. You may not be able to balance your checkbook or add up your points in a card game. Communication becomes difficult; as you cannot find the words you want to say. Your personality may change, you may become paranoid, be crabby or short tempered, and you may say or do inappropriate things or laugh when nothing is funny. Dementia is one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide. It’s overwhelming for the people who have the disease and their caretakers. There is almost always a lack of understanding of dementia, which causes obstacles to diagnosis and care. The impact of caring for someone with dementia in families and societies can be physical, psychological, social, and economic.
Dementia is an umbrella term used to explain the gradual decline in multiple areas of functions, which includes thinking, perception, communication, memory, languages, reasoning, and the ability to function (Harrison-Dening 2013). Worldwide, 47.5 million people have dementia and there are 7.7 million new cases every year. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia and may contribute to 60–70% of cases. (Alzheimer's society 2014). The complexity of dementia presents a number of behavioural challenges to those who live with dementia and their care providers. Aggressive behaviour seems to be one of the most prevalent challenging behaviours in the different stages of dementia (Weitzel et al 2011). As acute care settings are not the best places for people afflicted with dementia , it is necessary to empower the hospitalised people with dementia and their family members. As nurses are often the central core of care, they should have the potential of positive long-term effect on the lives of people with dementia (Harrison-Dening 2013). Inadequate training, lack of specialised education, negative attitudes and poor practice development can precipitate a failure in the delivery of high-quality care for the hospitalised dementia people (Chater & Hughes 2012).
This articles explains the decline in cognition and increase in confusion and behaviours with the Alzheimer’s and Dementia patient very well. The researchers used grounded theory to communicate the family caregiver’s experience in the decision-making process for provision of care ongoing for the family member. The study articulates the barriers that the family and caregivers encounter when caring for the family member at home as the disease progresses. It also provides a detailed explanation for the journey that the family and caregivers travel while caring for a loved one at home. It further supports the decision making process that the caregivers encounter during the process of long term care versus keeping the family member at home. Another strength was the attempt to have ethnic diversity in the study, and how they attempted to achieve this. The researchers communicated with many different cultural and religious organizations in an attempt to ensure that the pool of participants represented a multicultural population. The demographic sample of participants with ages ranging from 50 to 87 years of age complemented the research by providing differences experienced at the various ages of caregivers. The themes that arose from this research involved role of the disease in the lives of the caregiver, accessing community supports and the ongoing sense of loss. These themes were well defined, and
Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which each person is able to comprehend his or her own potential, manage the normal stresses of life, work effectively, and have an involvement in the community. A mentally healthy human being is in touch with reality, can identify with other people and adapt well to situations in their environment, and can solve conflicts. Mentally healthy folks have psychobiological elasticity. Mental illnesses usually have definable diagnoses. The person who experiences a psychiatric or mental illness has lost the skill to act in response to their surroundings in ways that are in agreement with self or with the expectations of the world. Mental illness is categorized by thoughts and behaviors that
This reflects on one of the registered nurse whom I will call as Nick from who I witnessed great organisation skills and a well person centred approach. The patient who I will call as Mr. Smith age 68 had left hip replacement and has Alzheimer’s. The patient experiences anxiety and agitation at some times and can be physically aggressive. My chosen episode care is when a Nick showed