Essay on Caring for a Person With Dementia

This is why treating the person with dignity and respect is vital in end of life care in case of an individual with dementia.

The nature of the behavioursWhen reviewing this area, it is important to note that there is an ongoing debate regarding the definitions and basic terminology for ‘non-cognitive’ symptoms. The term currently favoured in the psychiatric literature is ‘behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia’, but most of the psychology community still use the label ‘challenging behaviour’ (Emerson et al, 1995). Within these broader terms, further distinctions have been made (e.g. Cohen-Mansfield et al, 1992; Allen-Burge et al,

Even diet or illness can affect their abilities or needs. One day a person with dementia will remember, and be quite able, to complete certain tasks but then may be incapable another. This is not their choice it is because the brain is a very complex organ and the chemical changes vary from person to person. The information is still in the memory but the neurotransmitters are able to send messages one day but maybe not the next. If an individual has a water infection they may be more confused and their needs go up whilst their abilities go down. Medication may produce more hallucinations or tremors therefore once again their needs are increased.

These strategies may help with relieving distress, agitation and challenging behaviours. Strategies when dealing with dementia patients may include, “introduce yourself at each encounter, use touch as appropriate, try to determine the cause of the behaviour and then try to reduce or eliminate it. These behaviours may be caused by boredom, which you would try and use activities as a distraction, Pain which we3 will try non-pharmacological treatment first e.g.: heat packs, Anxiety where we will use reassurance and diversion. Often using a soft approach such as smiling, pleasant voice tones while talking calmly in short sentences will help defuse a situation.

When all the legal stuff is done, help/support is in place you find the individual to be relieved, coping a little better, quality of life is better due to eating and sleeping more. All of these reasons might make a person with dementia fluctuate on day to day decisions.

The term ‘dementia’ describes a set of symptoms which can include loss of memory, mood changes and problems with communication and reasoning. These symptoms occur when the brain is damaged by certain conditions and diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. 
Age is the greatest risk factor for dementia. Dementia affects one in 14 people over the age of 65 and one in six over the age of 80. However, dementia is not restricted to older people: in the UK, there are over 17,000 people under the age of 65 with dementia, although this figure is likely to be an underestimate.

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)

Expecting the unexpected is a big part of Alzheimer's disease because the Alzheimer's patients do certain actions which aren’t expected. For example these individuals personality tend to change from when they didn’t have Alzheimer's disease. Individuals who may have been very tame when they didn’t have AD may become very aggressive, and sporadic.At the same time with this sporadic behavior that occurs the caregiver may become angry, and frusturated. This will cause the caregiver to treat the person differently because they don’t want to deal with the changes of behavior.

Dementia is an extremely common disease among the elderly, with 4 million Americans currently suffering from the Alzheimer’s type alone. Figures show that 3% of people between the ages of 65-74 suffer from the disease, rapidly increasing to 19% for the 75-84 age bracket, and as high as 47% for the over 85s. Therefore, it is easy to see why Dementia is such a large part of many people’s lives, whether they are suffering from the condition themselves, or have an elderly relative who requires full time care just to undertake simple day to day tasks. The disease can be extremely traumatic for the patient and their families, as the person, who may have been extremely lively and bright throughout their

In people with Alzheimer’s, the neurons become disabled. For starters, Alzheimer’s interferes with the neurons ability to produce energy they need to do their work, a process known as metabolism. Neurons derive energy from the oxygen and glucose which is available through the bloodstream. Without this energy, neurons can no longer communicate with each other and carry impulses to other neurons. They also lose the ability to repair themselves, which ultimately causes them to die. Exactly what interferes with the functioning of the neurons is unclear, and the rate at which the disease progresses also varies from one person to another. Neuofibrillary tangles which is a tau protein that gives neurons their structure by binding to microtubules in a cell and

     Dementia, memory loss, and cognitive breakdown are some of the major signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The disease damages brain cells, which in turn, impairs the memory and leads to loss of memory and the ability to perform tasks. The slow elimination of cells weakens the brain’s ability to remember things, perform normal

Challenging Alzheimer’s disease patient behaviors are becoming more and more common. Unfortunately, traditional management of patients with Alzheimer’s disease in nursing homes exhibiting inappropriate or challenging behaviors often results in physical or chemical restraint. Agitated behaviors often interfere with daily living, and according to Witzke, Rhone, Backhaus, and Shaver (2008), may escalate from restlessness, pacing, and disrobing to hitting, kicking, and yelling. Agitation is described as inappropriate verbal or motor activity unrelated to needs or confusion (Witzke, Rhone, Backhaus, & Shaver, 2008). These behaviors put a massive burden on the caregivers.

Alzheimer’s is a common cause of dementia. Alzheimer’s starts out with the memory declining. The next stage of Alzheimer’s is the patient becomes more easily confused, can become more agitated, and the ability of speech starts to decline. Eventually the patient will lose control over functions such as swallowing, and the end result of Alzheimer’s is death (Bremer, Ross, Shaw, Towery, 2012). When the brain cells are destroyed or damaged vital brain functions such as memory are gone. The damage to the brain can affect all the lobes in the brain, and has a different result on each one. If damage to the frontal lobe has occurred, the patient starts losing control of their actions, and actions may be repeated. If there is damage to the temporal lobe the patient’s memory is affected, and even the simplest things are forgotten. A majority of the time people with Alzheimer’s show abnormal behavior, and often can act inappropriately. Damage to the parietal and occipital lobes affect the patient’s ability to process visual information, and causes the patient to be unable to recognize familiar faces (Bremer, Ross, Shaw, Towery, 2012). People who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s often experience abnormal behavior. This behavior can be aggressive, as stated earlier,

Why A Nursing Home May Be The Best Way To Care For Your Parent With Dementia

The research aims at determining the affect of dementia on the lives of individuals and how it impacts on their social interactions. The research will also identify the ways in which aging individuals can refrain themselves from falling prey to this disease. It will highlight some important information for caregivers who will better understand this disease and will know how to deal with people who have this disease. As we all