PALLIATIVE CARE Call In The Specialist
Dr Nori Graham, Medical Director of Red & Yellow Care, Vice-President of Alzheimer's Disease International and Vice-President of Alzheimer's Society, explains how specialist care can boost the quality of life for those living with dementia in a home.
Dementia is a complex condition with symptoms ranging from memory loss, confusion, diffi culty with thinking, failure to recognize people or objects, to a change in personality. The condition is also common; it affects 850,000 people in the UK alone. Of these, more than 300,000 live in residential care. The reason for this is that the symptoms are progressive and increasingly inhibit people’s ability to manage activities of daily life, such as shopping, cooking and bathing. Care homes can offer people with dementia a safe place to live, three meals a day, companionship and personal care.
However, needs don’t stop there. People with dementia typically develop multiple psychological and physical health issues beyond the dementia symptoms. These health issues require specialist treatment and care, but they are often overlooked and go unaddressed because the fi nger is pointed at dementia instead. This can lead to behavioural challenges, rapid deterioration of health and unnecessary hospital admissions for urinary tract infections, pneumonia or acute bronchitis – to name just a few examples.
Crises like these cause much distress for the person with dementia and their loved ones, and are a great strain on care home staff who are forced to deal with serious physical and mental health issues. This plight can be avoided if signs are picked up early and interventions initiated promptly, but that requires specialist knowledge of a wide range of conditions and a detailed understanding of how these conditions should be addressed in the context of dementia. That is where the specialist nurse comes in.
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The day-to-day care provided by care homes should ideally be complemented by the knowledge, experience and skills of a specialist dementia nurse. The nurse is able to deal with complex health issues and interpret the underlying causes of certain behaviour. One specialist nurse at Red & Yellow Care recalls a lady with dementia who became agitated and aggressive out of the blue. Nobody understood the reason for this sudden change and it was dismissed as a dementia symptom. The GP even suggested anti-psychotic drugs. When our specialist nurse got
are often overlooked and go unaddressed because the finger is pointed at dementia instead.
Multiple health issues
involved, it transpired that the lady had a sprained ankle but had been unable to communicate this. She was in constant pain, which had led to the agitation. The specialist nurse recognised that pain was causing the challenging behaviour and after a short investigation found its source. The ankle was treated, the agitation subsided and no anti-psychotic drugs were administered.
These situations are common and underline the urgent need for specialist dementia care. That is why Red & Yellow Care has developed a health management package specifi cally for people with dementia who live in a care home. The specialist nurse assesses physical, psychological, behavioural and social health needs and creates a bespoke care plan with input from the individual, family and care home staff. The nurse then works collaboratively and continuously with the care home staff, offering clinical advice and support that enhances the skills of staff members and improves the health outcomes of the individual. If appropriate, the specialist nurse will involve other members of Red & Yellow Care’s multi- professional team such as occupational therapists, clinical psychologists, dieticians and physiotherapists.
This collaborative approach prevents deterioration of overall health, which reduces distress, pain and agitation. This, in turn, helps people with dementia to engage in meaningful social activity and enjoy a more fulfi lling life for longer.
www.redandyellowcare.com
www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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