Dementia Case Study Essay

for England (QCF) and Edexcel Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care (Adults) for Wales and

Dementia is a progressive disorder that will affect how you’re brain functions and particularly your ability to remember, think and reason. Dementia usually affects older people and are approximately 820,000 people in the UK with the disorder, and around 15,000 are under the age of 65. If the dementia is recognised early enough that are a lot of things that you can be done to make the quality of life better. In a lot of dementia cases the symptoms and quality of life will progress and get worse over a number of years. The most common symptoms of a dementia patient are:

All forms of dementia can affect the way a person communicates, so in time they may have to find different ways of expressing themselves and their feelings. As a carer your non-verbal communication will become important, your body language, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact and tone of voice will have to be taken into account when you are communicating with a sufferer. In the early stages of some forms of dementia people may have difficulty finding the right word they are looking for, and in the later stages of some forms of dementia the words could be lost completely. As the dementia progresses, it gets a lot

2.2 Explain the importance of recording possible signs or symptoms of dementia in an individual in line with agreed ways of working

People who have dementia are not aware of requirements for living. They can forget to do the essential things that are vital. Taking medicines, hygiene and even eating are often forgotten. They can get lost or hurt and not understand what is necessary to correct a situation. Turning on the cooker or water and forgetting to turn it off again, locking doors, crossing streets etc can all be dangerous even deadly. In the same way as you would not think an infant capable of self care, a person with dementia cannot be either. Considering the facts that they cannot act in the manner of a

Dementia is an umbrella term used to explain the gradual decline in multiple areas of functions, which includes thinking, perception, communication, memory, languages, reasoning, and the ability to function (Harrison-Dening 2013). Worldwide, 47.5 million people have dementia and there are 7.7 million new cases every year. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia and may contribute to 60–70% of cases. (Alzheimer's society 2014). The complexity of dementia presents a number of behavioural challenges to those who live with dementia and their care providers. Aggressive behaviour seems to be one of the most prevalent challenging behaviours in the different stages of dementia (Weitzel et al 2011). As acute care

There are many reasons that Mrs. Yowell may have impaired mental functioning (see Table 1). The first and easiest reason to rule out would be a urinary tract infection (UTI). A urine sample can show if there are white blood cells (indicating infection) present in the urine. The increased levels of bacteria in an elderly person’s body can cause toxicity which leads to the altered mental status (Midthun, 2004). Most noted changes are confusion, agitation and lethargy.

Dementia is a term used to describe symptoms associated with decline in memory or other

This is an 89-year-old, was transferred here from Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, North Carolina on 01/21, for a multitude of problems including altered mental status. The patient can communicate but not well enough to really give a history. I have obtained all this history from her daughter Cynthia who works here at Mayview. I am told that Mamie was born in Edgecombe County right outside of Tarboro and she lived the majority of her life in those areas of Edgecombe County, Pitt County, and Martin County. She got married at the age of 19, and had 13 children. Three of the oldest children have died. Cynthia lives here in Raleigh and her sister Brenda works in Raleigh, but lives in Clayton. Mamie's husband died of some type of respiratory

Dementia. The degeneration of the brain and its propensities: brain cells deteriorate, weaken and die. The disease impacts an individuals thinking speed they become incoherent and struggle with their day-to-day memory. Aside from the sufferer of this destructive disease, it drastically impacts the people closest to them. We were all victims.

A topic I learned more of this semester in regards to the older population was dementia. Some loss in memory function is an inevitable consequence of aging, and as one ages, it takes more time to process information and retrieve memories. However, "Dementia is a general term that refers to progressive, degenerative brain dysfunction, including deterioration in memory, concentration, language skills, visuospatial skills, and reasoning, that interferes with a person's daily functioning" (Mauk, 2014, p. 377). This loss of mental skills affects the ability to function over time, causing problems with memory and how one thinks, impacting these individual's overall quality of life.

Dementia is characterized as a condition where the mental processes of cognition and memory start to deteriorate. It is described as a syndrome that hinders the daily lives of those who have it and is characterized by memory and thinking impairment. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s Disease and the second most common is vascular dementia. Dementia is a syndrome occurring usually, but not limited, to people over the age of 40 and is due to brain damage caused by natural deteriorating, stroke or can be brought on by factors such as excessive drinking or drug abuse. Dementia is best cared for in its early stages and, therefore, an early diagnosis is essential. Recognizing the symptoms by both the dementia patient and the

This assignment critically discusses about dementia, a widespread disability among older adults today. It provides an introduction to dementia and analyses its prevalence in society. The various forms of dementias are elaborated with description about dysfunctions and symptoms. Nursing Assessment and Interventions are provided in the further sections which discusses about actions nurses should take on while evaluating patients and treating them. Finally, communication, an important Activity of Daily Living (ADL) is explored and patient/carer advice is presented so as to maintain good health conditions in the patient.

Delirium, Depression, and Dementia are some of the most common psychological diagnoses in the elderly today. The three D’s are difficult to differentiate between in older adults because they overlap with each other and can all exist in the same patient at once. Delirium, Dementia, and Depression all affect the elderly’s quality of life and often increase the risks for one another (Downing, Caprio & Lyness, 2013). For the purpose of this paper I will be focusing primarily on the diagnosis of Dementia, the prevention, and nursing measures associated with it, but first I would like to differentiate between Delirium and Depression because Dementia is often associated with the two in the older adult population.

Out of the rapidly inclining population in the world, there are people who develop dementia every 66 seconds(“2016 Alzheimer’s Disease”). Being such a common disease in the elderly, there are 47.5 million people in the world with this disease(“2016 Alzheimer’s Disease”). Once families start to realize that their parents and grandparents have developed this, they start to wonder if they are able to live on their own. Within a few months, a decision is made whether if it is best for them to be put into a nursing home. Most often, those with dementia do happen to end up in nursing homes. Many wonder if being put into a nursing home will actually cause their dementia and their ability to live on their own to worsen. With the effects of activities, this could change. Activities help slow the deterioration of the brain(Smith). The activities and exercises performed by nursing homes to help improve the overall cognitive development in dementia patients. Nursing homes should induct purposeful daily activities to improve cognitive, social, and psychological development in dementia care