FEATURE
Not enough about the actual experiences of dementia patients is common knowledge. Each type of dementia has differing symptoms that cause changes in perception, mood, habits, and personality, all of which affect people’s lives differently. Therefore, treating dementia with a general one- size-fits-all approach is detrimental to their health. Care home residents in the UK are prescribed seven daily medications on average, costing the NHS an estimated £250m annually, while increasing the risk of heart failure and infections for residents. Instead of overmedicating people, we must make the effort to better understand dementia, and listen to the experiences of people who have it.
COMBATTING CHRONIC LONELINESS The wellbeing of care home residents has also come under scrutiny as a result of the pandemic. Care home operators have locked up care homes to prevent residents from being exposed to Covid, but this puts them at a different kind of risk. By not allowing residents to see their families, they are exposed to severe loneliness, which is more than twice as common among people in long-term care than the average person. Furthermore, 56% of people with dementia reported feeling ‘completely isolated’ during the pandemic. Chronic loneliness reduces residents’ quality of life to the extent that there is a risk of dying from it, and with care workers leaving the industry and families separated because of lockdowns, it has become one of the immediate predicaments of the care sector.
There is no easy solution. Fortunately, the time for severe restrictions appears to be coming to an end, and there must be a balance between safety measures and the wellbeing of care home residents. Technology is available to help connect care home residents with their families and friends online, and more must be done to help residents interact with others.
over 150 million cases of dementia by 2050: if we are unable to cope with a third of the cases now, how will we manage a few decades down the line?
There are already significant issues in the care sector. A recent analysis by the Guardian showed that one in five care homes provided substandard care to their residents. However, it is important to remember that these problems are symptomatic of the care system. Care homes are understaffed, and many workers do not have the appropriate training to provide an adequate standard of care. In order to solve the health and care crisis, we must better understand people’s care needs in order to invest in the right areas.
THE PERCEPTION OF DEMENTIA
Unfortunately, dementia is still seen as no more than a ‘memory loss disease’, and Social-Ability’s latest World Alzheimer’s Month survey revealed that almost two-thirds of people were unable to distinguish between early symptoms of dementia and signs of ageing. Even if dementia backlogs are cleared, the same issues will be present if people are unable to recognise the early signs of dementia and receive an early diagnosis.
twitter.com/TomorrowsCare
PIONEERING NEW TECHNOLOGIES To combat overmedication and chronic loneliness, the care sector must focus on implementing new technologies. Social-Ability’s Happiness Programme is one example of this approach, using interactive light technology to provide holistic care, offering light-based games that support and train people in care to boost the social, cognitive and emotional wellbeing of those they care for. The Happiness Programme facilitates social interaction while playing these games, while also maintaining their motor skills and physical health, with the overall goal of increasing their happiness. As an alternative therapy, such technology relieves the stress on care workers, and tackles the aforementioned issues of overmedication and loneliness.
By combining safety measures with new technology, we have the opportunity to focus on a high standard of wellbeing that care home residents deserve. We strongly believe that care should come hand in hand with happiness, and by listening to those working and living in the care sector, we all have the potential to make a change for the better.
https://social-ability.co.uk - 31 -
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50
