End of Life and Dementia Care Essay

A4) Describe the impact the behaviours of carers and others may have on an individual with dementia.

Dementia is a loss of brain function. If affects memory, thinking, language, judgement and behaviour. Dementia is progressive, so the symptoms will gradually get worse. In a later stage of dementia people will find it hard to carry out daily tasks and will come dependant on other people.

Current legislation and government policy were put in place to ensure that care providers provide the best possible care for dementia patients. Government equally provide funding to improve care environments to help to manage the condition of people with dementia as they are less likely to get confused or become distressed within an environment designed with their needs in mind.

Demonstrate how an individual with dementia has been valued, included and able to engage in daily life.

It is important to identify individual’s specific and unique needs so that they can receive the best care possible. Taking a person centred approach is vital, treating a service user as an individual person and acknowledge that

Prior to diagnosis the individual may show signs of forgetfulness due to an incline in memory functions. They may even show signs of a decline in reasoning and communication

The ability to make decisions may fluctuate with someone with dementia due to the changing status of the illness. Their capacity will deteriorate over time and situations they are in can determine their mental state, for example if a person with dementia is tired or is put into a stressful situation they can find it very difficult to comprehend what is going on and become frustrated and confused therefore hindering their ability to make a decision. Knowing the persons past and present, wishes, feelings, beliefs and values can help us to better understand and help them to make decisions. As dementia worsens this can become more difficult as communication breaks down, this is where care plans are important, this will contain all the information about the individual It is also helpful to speak to family and friends to find the best ways to care for the person.

In dementia care is a key aspect of best practice. It is a way of caring for a person with dementia as an individual with unique qualities. It means looking at the world from the person’s point of view ‘standing in their place’ as it were and appreciating how they may be feeling.

Dementia is a term used to describe a collection of signs and symptoms that happen to the brain when it is affected by the progression of certain diseases such as vascular dementia (when brain cells die due to lack of oxygen) and Alzheimer’s disease (a specific brain disease). Some of the affects these diseases have are on a person’s memory, language and communication abilities, behaviour and ability to make rational judgements.

1 UNDERSTAND KEY LEGISLATION AND AGREED WAYS OF WORKING THAT SUPPORT THE FULFILMENT OF RIGHTS AND CHOICES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA WHILE MINIMISING RISK OF HARM

3.4 Explain how an individual with dementia can be enabled to exercise their rights and choices even when a decision has not been deemed to be in their best interests.

More than 5 million Americans currently have dementia in the United States and this number is projected to rise to between 8 and 13 million by 2050 (Alzheimer’s Association, 2015). Dementia is known to become more prevalent with age, increasing from 5 to 10 percent in people over 65 years of age to almost one half of people over the age of 85 (Alzheimer’s Association, 2015). Although family members provide the majority of care for people with dementia, increasing needs over time often lead to placement in a long-term care setting. Dementia is the most common reason for entry into long-term care facilities (Zimmerman, 2013) and nearly 90% of persons with dementia will have at least one stay at a nursing home in their lifetime (Grunier, 2007).

Dementia is an extremely common disease among the elderly, with 4 million Americans currently suffering from the Alzheimer’s type alone. Figures show that 3% of people between the ages of 65-74 suffer from the disease, rapidly increasing to 19% for the 75-84 age bracket, and as high as 47% for the over 85s. Therefore, it is easy to see why Dementia is such a large part of many people’s lives, whether they are suffering from the condition themselves, or have an elderly relative who requires full time care just to undertake simple day to day tasks. The disease can be extremely traumatic for the patient and their families, as the person, who may have been extremely lively and bright throughout their

Dementia people are usually stayed in the nursing home. It is because their families are not able to take care of them, for physical or time reason. The effect of dementia brings out heavy economic, mental burden to the individual, family, caregivers and the whole society. (Brown & Edwards, 2005)Brown & Edwards (2005) stated ¡®In 2002-2003 the Australian government estimated total expenditure on residential aged care subsidies as $4.3 billion.¡¯ However, much health expenditure is not specifically attributed to dementia in hospital and other health service statistics. Moreover, Brown & Edwards (2005) pointed out that ¡®Residential care is costed at eight different levels of resident dependency.¡¯ High level residential care is primarily provided in nursing homes, low level residential care is provided in hostels, and community care is provided for aged clients in their homes. Dementia leads individuals to lose their live experiences, not only does it bring the financial cost to the families, but also the responsibilities to the caregivers.

After Alzheimer's is diagnosed in a parent, or other elderly family member, the caregiver has the task of deciding what the best form of care for the patient is. In order to do this they have to fully understand what the disease is, and