Download Learning Objectives

Dementia Awareness
An introduction to supporting people with dementia
Aim:
To provide you with a basic
understanding of dementia and
introduce approaches that will help
you be supportive to people with
dementia
Learning Objectives
• Increased understanding of the experience of
dementia
• Increased understanding of communication and
behaviour relating to dementia
• Increased understanding of the potential effects of
the environment on a person with dementia
• Increased understanding and confidence in using
enabling and person-centred approaches
Dementia Care in Scotland
• Dementia Strategy
• Standards of Care for Dementia in Scotland
• Promoting Excellence Framework
Understanding the experience of
dementia
• PERSON
• DEMENTIA
• ENVIRONMENT
What is dementia?
• Dementia is a broad term indicating loss of
intellectual functions (such as thinking,
remembering, reasoning) of sufficient severity
to interfere with a person’s ability to carry out
day to day activities and often affecting social
behaviour
Understanding dementia
• Dementia is not a disease itself but a collection of
features or symptoms accompanying certain
conditions
• What all these conditions have in common is that
they damage and kill brain cells, so that the brain
cannot work as well as it should
Who is affected?
• Dementia affects both men and women and exists
worldwide
• It is most common in older people but can affect
people in their 40s or 50s or even younger
• Research shows that many factors affect the risk of
developing dementia
Types of dementia
Many different conditions bring about the features of
dementia, the most common are:
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Vascular dementia
• Dementia with Lewy bodies
It is also possible to have more than one type
of dementia; for example Alzheimer’s disease
and vascular dementia
What happens?
• In most types of dementia, the illness is progressive
and therefore the person will experience many
different difficulties over time
• There is no cure at this point in time although some
medications are available that help some people
with some types of dementia for a period of time
Disabilities in dementia
This person may experience
difficulties with…
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Communication
A sense of time and place
Finding his way around
Coping with unfamiliar places, people
or activities
• Social/spatial/visual awareness
• Memory
Possible difficulties…
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Planning and calculating
Reasoning and judgment
Controlling emotional responses
Recognising people and objects
Coping with everyday activities - including his
personal care
Learning, concentration and motivation
Important points…
• Every person with dementia is different and may
experience dementia differently
• Not everyone will have same symptoms and they
do not necessarily appear in any particular order
• Good days and bad days – tiredness, depression,
emotional state and other health problems will
have impact on coping with dementia
• Can even depend on time of day
DVD
• Through our eyes
• A life with dementia
THE KIND OF
PERSON YOU
ARE
ENVIRONMENT
PERSONAL LIFE
EXPERIENCES
AND WAYS OF
COPING
EXPERIENCE OF
DEMENTIA
PHYSICAL
HEALTH/
PSYCHOLOGY
CHANGES TO
THE BRAIN
AND
FUNCTION
Dementia circle of support and
resources
Care Team
Our
hobbies
Our home
Family & Friends
Normal
communication:
a complex process
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Speech
Hearing
Touch
Sight
Understanding
Expressing
• Words
7%
• Tone of voice 38%
• Facial expression 55%
Communication
difficulties for
people with dementia
• Understanding what is being
said
• Finding appropriate words
• Repeats things
• Asks the same question
again & again
• Says things which aren’t real or
true
• Slowness at responding
• Mispronounces words
• Naming objects and people
• Difficulty writing
• Difficulty following television &
reading
• Conversation wanders
• Insensitive to other peoples’
conversation needs
• Unable to explain things
Ashdeane House
How can I help?
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Use name at beginning
Check aids
Minimise distractions
Consider who is the best person to impart information
Avoid the use or overuse of questions
Consider echoing
How can I help?
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Take time – give time
Be calm and patient
Speak slowly and clearly in a respectful, adult manner
Face the person and maintain good eye contact
Give the person your full attention and address him/her – not
accompanying helper
• Look interested in what is being said even if it is difficult to
understand
How can I help?
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Ensure the person is able to hear and see you clearly
Be aware of the tone of your voice
Focus on the person’s emotions and feelings
Make suggestions if the person seems to be struggling to find
words
• Be aware of the individual’s facial expressions, body posture
or mannerisms – what are they telling you?
How can I help?
• Be aware of your own facial expressions and body language
• Provide clues and visual/verbal prompts to assist
understanding
• Try providing information in a variety of formats
• Be prepared to repeat information and instructions calmly
• Try a range of approaches to ensure information is
understood
Making connections
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Music
Singing
Touch
Smell
Everyone is Different!
• Person
• Dementia
• Environment
Challenging behaviour often relates to a failure in
normal communication
• Communication and
Dementia
Ashdeane House
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Behaviour in Dementia
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Aggression/irritability
Uncooperativeness
Apathy
Shouting/swearing
Repetition/questioning
Catastrophic reaction
Separation anxiety
• ‘Wandering’
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Hallucinations
Delusions
Disinhibition
Sundowning
Continence problems
Accusations
What can cause challenging behaviour?
Fear or
alarm
Misunderstanding
events
Memory Loss
Stress
Separation
Anxiety
Disinhibition
Disorientation
Challenging
Behaviour
Feelings of
incompetence
Loss of
goal
recognition
Boredom
Reality
confrontation
Pain
or
discomfort
Loneliness
Over
Stimulation
Communication
Difficulties
A,B,C Approach to understanding behaviour we
find challenging
Activation – what was happening immediately prior to the
behaviour? Who was there? Where were they?
Behaviour – what was the behaviour you actually observed?
Be clear, specific and descriptive.
Consequence – What happened after the behaviour? Who
was involved? How was it resolved
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Things to avoid
• Using tricks lies or
deception
• Disempowering
• Talking as you might to
a child
• Labelling
• Outpacing
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Rejecting the person
Dismissing feelings
Emphasising disabilities
Ignoring the person
Environmental challenges
The environment can help or hinder a person with
dementia
Once you understand some basic rules, you can help
improve communication, behaviour and understanding
Issues to consider
Help people with dementia to make sense of their
surroundings
• Colour and design
• Lighting
• Noise
• Mirrors & Reflections
‘See Me’ - Who has dementia?
©Alzheimer Scotland
Aids and resources
www.alzscot.org