Developing Excellent Care for People Living with Dementia in Care Homes


Book Description

The award-winning PEARL (Positively Enriching and enhancing Residents' Lives) programme was developed to enable care homes to move from providing good fundamental care to excellent person-centred dementia care. Trialled extensively by one of the UK's largest care providers, it has been proven to dramatically increase the quality of life of people with dementia living in care homes, significantly reducing the use of antipsychotics and the incidence of stress-related behaviours. This concise and accessible guide, written by the Director of Dementia Care at the care provider which trialled and developed PEARL, describes the key criteria of the programme, and provides best practice guidelines for dementia care practitioners wishing to use the approach in their own care home. With an emphasis on the practical, achievable elements of the programme, and drawing on many useful examples, the author and contributors provide guidelines on, amongst many things, getting the fundamentals of person-centred care right; enabling decision-making; reducing stress-related behaviours; psychosocial treatments; safeguarding; supporting staff; and involving relatives.




Person-centred Dementia Care


Book Description

Explaining the four key areas of person-centred care for people with dementia, Dawn Brooker provides a fresh definition to the important ideas that underpin the implementation and practice of dealing with this issue.




Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America


Book Description

As the largest generation in U.S. history - the population born in the two decades immediately following World War II - enters the age of risk for cognitive impairment, growing numbers of people will experience dementia (including Alzheimer's disease and related dementias). By one estimate, nearly 14 million people in the United States will be living with dementia by 2060. Like other hardships, the experience of living with dementia can bring unexpected moments of intimacy, growth, and compassion, but these diseases also affect people's capacity to work and carry out other activities and alter their relationships with loved ones, friends, and coworkers. Those who live with and care for individuals experiencing these diseases face challenges that include physical and emotional stress, difficult changes and losses in their relationships with life partners, loss of income, and interrupted connections to other activities and friends. From a societal perspective, these diseases place substantial demands on communities and on the institutions and government entities that support people living with dementia and their families, including the health care system, the providers of direct care, and others. Nevertheless, research in the social and behavioral sciences points to possibilities for preventing or slowing the development of dementia and for substantially reducing its social and economic impacts. At the request of the National Institute on Aging of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America assesses the contributions of research in the social and behavioral sciences and identifies a research agenda for the coming decade. This report offers a blueprint for the next decade of behavioral and social science research to reduce the negative impact of dementia for America's diverse population. Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America calls for research that addresses the causes and solutions for disparities in both developing dementia and receiving adequate treatment and support. It calls for research that sets goals meaningful not just for scientists but for people living with dementia and those who support them as well. By 2030, an estimated 8.5 million Americans will have Alzheimer's disease and many more will have other forms of dementia. Through identifying priorities social and behavioral science research and recommending ways in which they can be pursued in a coordinated fashion, Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America will help produce research that improves the lives of all those affected by dementia.




Enriched Care Planning for People with Dementia


Book Description

The correlation between 'disengagement' and illness in people with dementia living in long-term care settings is becoming more widely recognised, and developing and adapting front-line staff responses to the changing needs of individuals is a crucial factor in addressing this problem. This book presents a complete practical framework for whole person assessment, care planning and review of persons with dementia or signs of dementia (including those with learning disabilities) who are in need of, or already receiving, health and/or social support. The book provides photocopiable assessment forms, guidelines for carrying out the assessment, and suggestions for tailored interventions based on the profile that emerges from the assessment process. The authors also include a clear explanation of the five theoretical components of dementia that are considered in the assessment: health, biography, personality, neurological impairment and social psychology. This good practice guide will provide a step up to the challenge of providing person centred care as a minimum standard rather than just an ideal. Care workers in residential settings and social workers assessing clients for their support requirements will find this an essential resource.







Challenging Behaviour in Dementia


Book Description

Understanding socially disruptive behavior in dementia is never easy. Most explanations offer neither solace nor solutions for families and carers, and treatment is often characterized by policies of control and containment. The result of Graham Stokes' 15 years of clinical work with people who are challenging, this book: disputes the traditional medical model of dementia and asserts that if we reach behind the barrier of cognitive devastation and decipher the cryptic messages, it can be shown that much behavior is not meaningless but meaningful. It contrasts the medical interpretation that sees anti-social behavior as mere symptoms of disease with a person-centered interpretation that resonates change and resolution. It offers a radical and innovative interpretation of challenging behavior consistent with the new culture of dementia care, focusing on needs to be met rather than problems to be managed.




Excellent Dementia Care in Hospitals


Book Description

Highly Commended in Medicine in the 2018 BMA Medical Book Awards People with dementia increasingly find themselves staying in hospitals for extended periods, often due to separate health issues. This best-practice guide presents healthcare staff with the information and tools needed to provide excellent person-centred care to people with dementia in hospital settings. This useful handbook includes information and innovative strategies on how to manage common issues, including communication, physical health needs, pain, eating and nutrition, working with carers and relatives, understanding behaviour and approaching the end of life. It also highlights ethical considerations such as human rights and dementia, making decisions and the Mental Capacity Act. Each chapter includes a case study, emphasising the person at the centre of care and providing examples of how hospital staff can work with people with dementia to ensure best practice.




Person-Centred Dementia Care, Second Edition


Book Description

What is person-centred dementia care, and how can it be used to improve care for people from diagnosis to end of life? How can we improve services in people's own homes, in care homes, in supported housing and in hospitals? This substantially updated second edition considers recent developments in person-centred care, presenting refreshed guidelines for practice. Dawn Brooker and Isabelle Latham explain the evolution of the key principles of person-centred care that comprise the VIPS model. They describe how it has been applied in diverse service settings, and show how to put the model into practice. A new chapter dedicated to culture of care will help service managers to get to grips with this slippery concept, and includes important information on how to guard against neglectful practice. Case studies from the CHOICE programme, a research project on culture of care, demonstrate the key factors that are important for people living with advanced dementia and complex needs to live well.




Visiting the Memory Café and other Dementia Care Activities


Book Description

Activity and engagement are vital to our well-being throughout our lives and this continues to be just as true of people living with dementia. The activities presented in this book have been designed to provide meaningful engagement for residents, while respecting each individual resident's readiness to engage and participate. This approach to person-centred care has proven to be extremely effective: activities such as Namaste Care and Memory Cafés have engaged residents who had previously not responded to interventions, demonstrably showing an increase in their levels of well-being. Supported by case studies, each chapter will also recommend the best way to implement the ideas discussed in the care home environment and beyond.




End of Life Care for People with Dementia


Book Description

People with dementia need increasingly specialised support as they approach the end of life, and so too do their families and the professionals working with them. This book describes not only what can be done to ensure maximum quality of life for those in the final stages of the illness, but also how best to support those involved in caring for them. Emphasising the importance of being attuned to the experiences and needs of the person with dementia, the authors explain why and how they should be included in decisions relating to their end of life care. Practical strategies for ensuring physical and emotional wellbeing are provided, drawing on useful examples from practice and providing solutions to potential challenges that carers and family members will face. Dilemmas surrounding end of life care are explored in detail, including the moral dilemma of medical intervention, and the authors suggest ways of supporting family members through the process in terms of providing information, helping them adjust to change and loss, and involving them in their relative's care, and at how care staff can be supported through appropriate education and training, team building and information-giving. This is an essential resource for anyone who wishes to provide compassionate, person-centred care for a person with dementia as they approach the end of life, including care staff, nurses, social workers and related professionals.




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