DEMENTIA

Dementia



Table of Contents

Introduction3

Dementia Care in Nursing Homes3

Literature Review3

The Dementia Evaluation5

Behavioural Problems in Patients with Dementia5

Caring for People with Dementia7

Food ingredients are particularly important for Dementia Patients7

Suitable Drinks for Dementia Patients8

What must be considered at reduced energy requirements for older people?9

Nursing Interventions10

Occupational Therapy Treatment for Patients with Dementia10

The Role of the Occupational Therapist11

Occupational Therapy12

Treatment Methods Dementia13

Art Therapy (AT)13

Drama Therapy (DT)14

Dance Movement Therapy/Dance Therapy (DMT)16

Music as a Therapy (MT)17

Sleep19

Depression20

Conclusion20

References22

Dementia



Introduction

A dementia is a deficit in cognitive, emotional and social skills, which leads to impaired social and occupational functions and commonly associated with a diagnosable disorder of the brain. Relevant is the loss of acquired thinking skills as opposed to innate intellectual deficit.

Dementia Care in Nursing Homes

Dementia commonly occurs in the elderly. It is known that they are a vulnerable patient population - they are often frail and dependent on informal caregivers for support. It is also known that the nursing home staff members, who traditionally provide care for long-term care patients, may lack expertise for providing transitional care for patients with dementia. Thus, post-acute care patients, who are vulnerable to complications from multiple transitions in care, may not receive the basic care required to prepare them for safe transitions from nursing homes to home. There have been many proposed treatment and programs for the dementia patients' care in the nursing homes.

Literature Review

Dementia can be defined as a clinical syndrome characterised by deterioration in cognitive functions. One component of caring for an individual with dementia includes stimulating abilities, thereby improving the quality of life and decreasing problematic behaviours.

Research about care giving originally focused on family care giving for the mentally sick, sparked by the rapid rate of deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill. Since the 1970's, caregiver research has expanded to include caregivers of persons with a variety of physical and psychological problems. Some of these include, but are not limited to, caregivers of person's living with AIDS. Research about care giving for the elderly with dementia has increased substantially since the 1980'. The effects on family caregivers caring for a family member with Alzheimer's type dementia at home. Factors identified in research that play a role in a caregiver's ability to cope effectively and continue the care in the community will be identified. Finally, issues around admitting a care receiver to a facility will be discussed briefly as they pertain to a family caregiver's ability to cope and continue care in the community (Lou, 2001, pp. 165).

Family members provide the majority of care provided to older adults with functional impairment. Several studies have shown that more than half of family caregivers were older than 60 years, which is the cut-off age for being called elderly, and more than half of family caregivers are spouses. Caregivers of dementia patients in the community have not gotten much attention. Even, though there are some nursing homes and daily care centres for the elderly, most of them are open to the elderly who do not have adult children to care for ...