Support for People with Dementia

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 245-249
Author(s):  
Neil Hunt

Dementia is a progressive and eventually terminal condition, but with early intervention and the right support, people with dementia can continue to enjoy a good quality of life for many years. Living with dementia can be challenging both for those affected and their families as it can affect all aspects of daily life. It is vital that people with dementia and their carers are signposted to the support services that can help them take control of their condition and help them remain active and independent.

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 1323-1331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanneke C. Beerens ◽  
Bram de Boer ◽  
Sandra M.G. Zwakhalen ◽  
Frans E.S. Tan ◽  
Dirk Ruwaard ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackground:To improve the quality of life (QoL) of people with dementia (PwD) living in long-term care facilities, insight into the association between QoL and how people spend their daily lives is urgently needed. This study investigated which aspects of daily life are related to QoL in dementia.Methods:An observational study was conducted. Daily life was assessed with the tablet-based Maastricht Electronic Daily Life Observation-tool (MEDLO-tool). Aspects included activity, engagement in the activity, social interaction, physical effort, mood, and agitation. QoL was assessed by formal nursing caregivers using the Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease scale (QoL-AD). A total of 9,660 momentary assessments were conducted.Results:The mean age of the 115 participants was 84 years and most (75%) were women. Bivariate analyses showed that residents with a higher QoL carried out less passive/purposeless activities (25% vs. 38%), were more engaged in active, expressive, and social activities, (40% vs. 27%), had more social interaction (34% vs. 22%), and had better mood scores (scale 1–7, 5.0 vs. 4.8), compared with residents with a lower QoL (allp-values < 0.001). Multivariate analyses showed that having more social interaction and a positive mood are related to a higher QoL.Conclusions:The results underline the importance of social interaction and a positive mood for a higher QoL. Future research should investigate the importance of engagement in activities in more detail.


GeroPsych ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-134
Author(s):  
Mechthild Niemann-Mirmehdi ◽  
Andreas Häusler ◽  
Paul Gellert ◽  
Johanna Nordheim

Abstract. To date, few studies have focused on perceived overprotection from the perspective of people with dementia (PwD). In the present examination, the association of perceived overprotection in PwD is examined as an autonomy-restricting factor and thus negative for their mental well-being. Cross-sectional data from the prospective DYADEM study of 82 patient/partner dyads (mean age = 74.26) were used to investigate the association between overprotection, perceived stress, depression, and quality of life (QoL). The analyses show that an overprotective contact style with PwD has a significant positive association with stress and depression, and has a negative association with QoL. The results emphasize the importance of avoiding an overprotective care style and supporting patient autonomy.


Author(s):  
Troncone Raffaella ◽  
Coda Marco

Evaluation is at the basis of any social context where all individuals are simultaneously "evaluated" and "evaluators" in all areas of daily life. The goal of a good evaluation system is to encourage staff to do "Good Health" through the provision of quality prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation services. The main reasons that lead to the evaluation of the personnel lie in the inevitable and primary importance of the human resource in achieving the corporate objectives, and by the pressing need for the quality of the service provided to the citizen, as well as the legitimate need of the employee to differentiate, clarifying its specificities and its own individual contribution to the general objectives of the company. In the working context, the "personnel evaluation" assumes a fundamental importance, if managed with the right criteria, in order to make the employee not a simple pawn to move and manage for use and consumption of the organization, but an integral part of the organization itself.


Author(s):  
Yuriko Saito

This chapter argues for the importance of cultivating aesthetic literacy and vigilance, as well as practicing aesthetic expressions of moral virtues. In light of the considerable power of the aesthetic to affect, sometimes determine, people’s choices, decisions, and actions in daily life, everyday aesthetics discourse has a social responsibility to guide its power toward enriching personal life, facilitating respectful and satisfying interpersonal relationships, creating a civil and humane society, and ensuring the sustainable future. As an aesthetics discourse, its distinct domain unencumbered by these life concerns needs to be protected. At the same time, denying or ignoring the connection with them decontextualizes and marginalizes aesthetics. Aesthetics is an indispensable instrument for assessing and improving the quality of life and the state of the world, and it behooves everyday aesthetics discourse to reclaim its rightful place and to actively engage with the world-making project.


Author(s):  
Inmaculada Méndez ◽  
Esther Secanilla ◽  
Juan P. Martínez ◽  
Josefa Navarro

In a global approach about the need of paying attention to staff working with and for older people with dementia and other diseases in residential care, it is necessary to investigate their emotional well-being to provide strategies to improve their quality of life and therefore their quality of patient care. Professional caregivers of people with dementia and other diseases have specific psycho-sociological problems. They are more prone to stress which can sometimes lead to the “burnout” due to specific functions in the workplace. To define the sample was decided to compare two residential centers of two regions, Murcia and Barcelona. We proceeded to the administration of the following measuring instruments: the scale Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and an ad hoc survey conducted for professional caregivers. Finally, the results offer the possibility of carrying out programs to prevent emotional exhaustion in professional carers, as well as the possibility of designing psychoeducational programs for staff care and even future proactive and reactive interventions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Jannika Dodge-Khatami ◽  
Ali Dodge-Khatami

Abstract Objectives: The mini right axillary thoracotomy is an alternative surgical approach to repair certain congenital heart defects. Quality-of-life metrics and clinical outcomes in children undergoing either the right axillary approach or median sternotomy were compared. Methods: Patients undergoing either approach for the same defects between 2018 and 2020 were included. Demographic details, operative data, and outcomes were compared between both groups. An abbreviated quality of life questionnaire based on the Infant/Toddler/Child Health Questionnaires focused on the patient’s global health, physical activity, and pain/discomfort was administered to all parents/guardians within two post-operative years. Results: Eighty-seven infants and children underwent surgical repair (right axillary thoracotomy, n = 54; sternotomy, n = 33) during the study period. There were no mortalities in either group. The right axillary thoracotomy group experienced significantly decreased red blood cell transfusion, intubation, intensive care, and hospital durations, and earlier chest tube removal. Up to 1 month, parents’ perception of their child’s degree and frequency of post-operative pain was significantly less after the right axillary thoracotomy approach. No difference was found in the patient’s global health or physical activity limitations beyond a month between the two groups. Conclusions: With the mini right axillary approach, surrogates of faster clinical recovery and hospital discharge were noted, with a significantly less perceived degree and frequency of post-operative pain initially, but without the quality of life differences at last follow-up. While providing obvious cosmetic advantages, the minimally invasive right axillary thoracotomy approach for the surgical repair of certain congenital heart lesions is a safe alternative to median sternotomy.


Author(s):  
Yu-Tzu Wu ◽  
◽  
Linda Clare ◽  
Ian Rees Jones ◽  
Sharon M. Nelis ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between quality of life and both perceived and objective availability of local green and blue spaces in people with dementia, including potential variation across rural/urban settings and those with/without opportunities to go outdoors. Methods This study was based on 1540 community-dwelling people with dementia in the Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life (IDEAL) programme. Quality of life was measured by the Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease (QoL-AD) scale. A list of 12 types of green and blue spaces was used to measure perceived availability while objective availability was estimated using geographic information system data. Regression modelling was employed to investigate the associations of quality of life with perceived and objective availability of green and blue spaces, adjusting for individual factors and deprivation level. Interaction terms with rural/urban areas or opportunities to go outdoors were fitted to test whether the associations differed across these subgroups. Results Higher QoL-AD scores were associated with higher perceived availability of local green and blue spaces (0.82; 95% CI 0.06, 1.58) but not objective availability. The positive association between perceived availability and quality of life was stronger for urban (1.50; 95% CI 0.52, 2.48) than rural residents but did not differ between participants with and without opportunities to go outdoors. Conclusions Only perceived availability was related to quality of life in people with dementia. Future research may investigate how people with dementia utilise green and blue spaces and improve dementia-friendliness of these spaces.


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