The Health Condition Dementia Samples for Students- Myassignment

Question: Describethe Health Condition Dementia. Answer: Dementia: Dementia is a group of diseases which causes long duration and steady loss in ability to think and memorize. As a result, there is negative impact on the daily functioning of the person. Most common symptoms associated with dementia are emotional dilemma, difficulty in speech and language and diminished motivation. However, there is no effect on persons consciousness in persons with dementia (Cerejeira et al., 2012). Alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent cause of dementia. Other causes with less prevalence include vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, normal pressure hydrocephalus, Parkinson's disease and syphilis. Diagnosis of dementia generally based on the medical history of the patient, cognitive testing comprising of mental state examination, medical imaging and blood testing. There is lack of treatment for dementia. However, cholinesterase inhibitors like donepezil can be beneficial in recovering from mild to moderate dementia. Abundant literature comprising of clinical trials is available for the effectiveness of donepezil in dementia (Rolinski et al., 2012). Cognitive and behavioral interventions can also be useful in improving condition of the patient. Education, emotional support and exercise can be helpful in improving outcomes in terms of activities of daily living. Signs and symptoms of dementia include balance difficulty, tremor, eating problem, speech problem, memory decline, restlessness, visual problem, agitation, anxiety, impulsivity, delusions, loss of appetitie and sleep disorder (Bourgeois and Hickey, 2011; Dorothy et al., 2015; Larson et al., 2013). Prevalance of Dementia: In Australia, 8.8 % people of age 65 and above have dementia. Approximately, 43 % people of age 85 and above has dementia. Approximately, 1 % people below age 60 are associated with dementia. 50 % of the aged people in the Australian Government funded aged care facilities are associated with dementia. In 2013, it was estimated that dementia was the second prominent cause of death in Australia. Death due to dementia was estimated to be 7.4 % of all deaths. Median age of people with death due to dementia was 88 years (AIHW, 2015). In Japan, 21 % people above 65 years of age are associated with dementia. Projected number of people with dementia is estimated to be 42.3 million by 2020 and 81.1 million by 2040 (Prince et al., 2016). Treatment of Dementia: Psychologial therapies, medications and non-medication therapies can be provided to the patient for treatment and management of dementia. Psychological therapies for dementia include music therapy, reminiscence therapy, cognitive reframing, validation therapy and mental exercises. Improvement in the dementia in psychological therapies can be evaluated by using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). In psychological therapies different scales like Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), Geriatric Depression Scale short form (GDS-SF) and Todai-shiki Observational Rating Scale (TORS) can be used to assess improvement in the patient. Music therapy in the young people would be helpful in memorizing the names. Reminiscence therapy uses history in the written and oral form for improving psychological condition of the patient. Research indicated that reminiscence therapy is useful in improving cognitive function and quality of life of patient. Reminiscence therapy is useful in dement ia of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia type (Langa et al., 2014). Cognitive reframing deals with the identification of the unreasonable thoughts and correcting it. From the literature, it is evident that application of cognitive reframing helped in improving memory of the people. In cognitive reframing people should be told that they can improve their memory by changing their opinion about dementia. Validation therapy is based on the acknowledgement of the others opinions, however there is very less evidence available for the implementation of this therapy in dementia. Cognitive training is based on the principle that cognitive capability can be improved by performing exercise by the brain (Lochhead et al., 2016). Medications for dementia cant improve actual disease process, however these can improve cognitive and behavioral symptoms. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor like donepezil proved useful in different types of dementia like Alzheimer disease, Parkinson's disease and vascular dementia. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor blocker like memantine also proved useful in dementia. Donepezil and memantine can be used in combination for dementia because their mechanisms of action are different (Alsaeed et al., 2016). Non-medication therapies like occupational therapy, modification in the environment and modification of tasks can be implemented for the management of dementia. Occupational therapy deals with the making safe home and coping behaviors. By this accidents and risk behaviors can be avoided. Modification of the environment involves reducing noise, hence dementia person can concentrate more on the given task. Modifying tasks involve proper structuring of the activities, hence, there would be less confusion in the person with dementia (Farina, 2012). Health Professionals: Psychologist should be involved in the management of dementia. Psychologist can provide their services at different settings like homes, residential care facilities, clinics and hospitals. Psychologist perform different tasks like assessment of type of dementia, counseling to patient and family members, assistance to staff, education to patient, family members and staff, guidance to improve daily functions and provision of evidence based dementia management. Prognosis and diagnosis along with future planning and decision making are the most important roles played by the psychologist. Psychologist are well versed with decision making, relevant legislation and skills related to dementia. Psychologist has important role in the treatment of patients with life-long dementia because management of these patients is difficult for the healthcare staff in hospitals and clinics. Psychologist plays important role in diffentiating dementia form other psychological conditions like delirium and dep ression (Moonga and Likupe, 2016; Molinuevo et al., 2013). Nurse can build effective communication and interaction with dementia patient to build trust. This trust can be helpful in accurate assessment of the patient. Nurse can empower dementia people by providing ideal environment for the people with dementia. Nurse should understand behavior of the dementia patient and make them feel more relaxed, safe and sound. Nurse should inform exact condition of patient honestly to patient and family members and provide person centered and family centered care. Patients with dementia may forget to take medications, hence nurse should make sure that patients are consuming medications on the scheduled timings. If patient is not taking medications due to psychological issues, nurse should put this issue in meeting and discussion comprising of nurse, doctor, pharmacist and family members and should take best decision in interest of patient. Nurse also should take care of adequate intake of fluid and nutrition, exercise and use of toilets for dementia pat ients because they may be forget it (Lipton and Marshall, 2012; Rahman, 2017). Financial impact: Dementia condition has significant impact on the financial aspects of family and community. It is reported that 1/3 of the people with job has to quit their job or reduce working hours due to dementia. Approximately 15 % of the people have to sell their personal belongings to earn money for medical and psychological management of dementia. Approximately 50 % people reported that they have to spend their savings for cure of dementia condition. Moreover, in most of the parts of the world dementia care doesnt come under insurance policies and there are no subsidies for the management of dementia (van Vliet et al., 2010). In dementia condition financial burden is also more because improper diagnosis of the condition. In dementia patients multiple psychological factors are involved. Hence, it would be difficult for the doctor to make accurate diagnosis. Inaccurate diagnosis may lead to the wrong treatment to the patients. This leads to the unnecessary and unproductive spending on the deme ntia condition. There is no fixed protocol available for the management of dementia because dementia management may vary from person to person, which may lead to financial burden on family members and community. Dementia can also increase national spending on the management of dementia. There should be allocation of one of the family members for the management of dementia. In such cases, caregiver person cant concentrate on the job or has to leave the job. It has double impact on the financial condition of the family. Family has to spend money on the treatment of dementia and additionally there would less income for the family due to jobless members of the family. Dementia condition mainly occurs in the elderly persons. In general, elderly people are non-earning people and there is more spending on them for dementia treatment. Persons with dementia may be with less movement. It can lead to other complications like obesity, diabetes and hypertension. Treatment of these additional com plications may lead to extra financial burden on family members (MacKinlay and Trevit, 2012; Coope and Richards, 2014). References Quote Dementia is not exclusively a problem of developed world Julie Bishop. (UN News Centre, https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50339#.WQRU79Lytdg) Graph: Age distribution of deaths, by Indigenous status, age and sex, 2009-2013 (AIHW, 2016 https://www.aihw.gov.au/australias-health/2016/population-groups/) References: Alsaeed, D., Jamieson, E., Gul, M.O., and Smith, F.J. (2016). Challenges to optimal medicines use in people living with dementia and their caregivers: A literature review. International Journal of Pharmacology, 512(2), 396-404. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) , (2015). Dementia. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/dementia/ on 27.04.2017. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), (2016). Health of population groups, Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/australias-health/2016/population-groups/ on 30.04.2017. Bourgeois, M.S., and Hickey, E. (2011). Dementia: From Diagnosis to Management - A Functional Approach. Taylor Francis. Cerejeira, J., Lagarto, L., and Mukaetova-Ladinska, E.B. (2012). Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Frontiers of Neurology, 3(73). doi:10.3389/fneur.2012.00073. Coope, B., and Richards, F. (2014). ABC of Dementia. John Wiley Sons. Dorothy, F., Forbes, S. C., Blake, C. M., Thiessen, E. J., and Forbes, S. (2015). Exercise programs for people with dementia. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (4), CD006489. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006489. Farina, E. (2012). Dementia: Non-pharmacological Therapies. Nova Science Publishers. Langa, K.M., and Levine, D.A. (2014). The diagnosis and management of mild cognitive impairment: a clinical review. Journal of the American Medical Association, 312(23), 255161. Larson, E.B., Yaffe, K., Langa, K.M. (2013). New insights into the dementia epidemic. The New England Journal of Medicine, 369(24), 22757 Lochhead, J.D., Nelson, M.A., and Maguire, G.A. (2016). The treatment of behavioral disturbances and psychosis associated with dementia. Psychiatria Polska, 50(2), 311-22 Lipton, A.M., and Marshall, C.D. (2012). The Common Sense Guide to Dementia For Clinicians and Caregivers. Springer Science Business Media. MacKinlay, E., and Trevit, C. (2012). Finding Meaning in the Experience of Dementia. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Moonga, J., and Likupe, G. (2016). A systematic literature review on nurses' and health care support workers' experiences of caring for people with dementia on orthopaedic wards. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 25, (13-14), 1789-804. Molinuevo, J. L., Cummings, J. I., Dubois, B., and Scheltens, P. (2013). Early Diagnosis and Intervention in Predementia Alzheimer's Disease, An Issue of Medical Clinics. Elsevier Health Sciences. Prince, M., Gemma-Claire, A., Malenn, G., Prina, A. M., Emiliano, A., and Yu-Tzu, W. (2016). Recent global trends in the prevalence and incidence of dementia, and survival with dementia. Alzheimer's Research Therapy, 8(23). DOI: 10.1186/s13195-016-0188-8. Rahman, S. (2017). Enhancing Health and Wellbeing for Living with Dementia: Care Homes and Care at Home. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Rolinski, M., Fox, C., Maidment, I., and McShane, R. (2012). Cholinesterase inhibitors for dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson's disease dementia and cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 3, CD006504. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006504. UN News Centre, https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50339#.WQRU79Lytdg, retrieved on 27.04.2017 van Vliet, D., de Vugt, M.E., Bakker, C., Koopmans, R.T., Verhey, F.R. (2010). Impact of early onset dementia on caregivers: a review. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 25(11), 1091-100.