dementia

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World Alzheimer’s Month 2014 – Dementia: Can we reduce the risk?


World Alzheimer’s Month 2014 - Dementia: Can we reduce the risk?

World Alzheimer’s Month 2014 – Dementia: Can we reduce the risk?

Today sees the start of World Alzheimer’s Month 2014. This years theme is “Dementia: Can we reduce the risk?”

Please feel free to use the picture above as you Facebook cover for the month.

Alzheimer’s Disease International  have produced two very useful pieces of information which we have shared below.

The first looks at the social impact of dementia while the second introduces us to the early signs and symptoms of dementia.  Please so feel free to share far and wide!

The Global Impact of Dementia

What is dementia?

Dementia is a progressive, degenerative brain syndrome that affects memory, thinking, behaviour and emotion. Dementia knows no social, economic, ethnic or geographical boundaries and affects people throughout the world. As dementia progresses individuals affected need care with all aspects of daily life, worldwide families mostly provide this care.


Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and accounts for 50-60% of all cases and is caused by abnormal brain tissue changes.

Who does it affect?

International studies make it clear that dementia occurs in every country of the world. Dementia affects 1 in 20 people over the age of 65 and 1 in 5 over the age of 80. Worldwide there are an estimated 44 million people with dementia. By 2050 the number will rise to 135 million.

Where do people with dementia live?

For at least the last 15 years, the majority of people with dementia worldwide have been living in developing regions of the world. They account already for over 62% of all cases; by 2050 this proportion will have risen to 71%.

Care arrangements

Research has shown that most people with dementia live in their own homes and are cared for by a female caregiver usually a spouse or daughter and that caring is associated with substantial psychological and financial strain (Int J Geriatric Psychiatry 2004 19 170-177). In contrast to developed countries, more than a quarter of people with dementia in developing countries live in a multigenerational household with their children and grandchildren.

Cost of care

Caregivers have to cut back on paid work or stop work altogether, informal care is often supplemented by formal paid care and people with dementia are relatively heavy consumers of health services. The total estimated worldwide costs of dementia are US$604 billion in 2010, according to ADI’s World Alzheimer Report

What is needed?

1. Recognition of the early symptoms of dementia

Dementia is surrounded by stigma and myth. Many people see the early symptoms of dementia as a normal consequence of ageing and therefore do not come forward for the help and support that is available. Recognising the symptoms of dementia is the first step towards receiving a diagnosis. A diagnosis can help to reduce the anxiety of people with dementia and their family, allow a greater chance to benefit from existing treatments, access resources and information and provide more time to plan for the future.

Ten early symptoms of dementia:

  1. Memory loss
  2. Difficulty in performing everyday tasks
  3. Problems with language
  4. Disorientation to time and place
  5. Poor or decreased judgment
  6. Problems with keeping track of things
  7. Misplacing things
  8. Changes in mood or behaviour
  9. Changes in personality
  10. Loss of initiative

2. Cost effective interventions

These are needed worldwide to provide support for people with dementia and their families to maintain and improve quality of life. Research has shown that there are ways to reduce the stresses of caring:

  • Information and education empowers people to understand what is happening to them and their loved one and how to cope better.
  • Support groups provide an opportunity to share experiences and feelings.
  • Professional counselling has been shown to be effective in improving morale and decreasing feelings of stress.
  • A break from caring is essential, respite can be achieved informally by arranging for the person with dementia to stay with relatives or friends or formally through services such as day care and short stays in residential units.
  • Practical help in the home, financial support and a key person to turn to are also useful.”
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Huntington’s Disease Awareness Week 2014 – Free training from the Huntington’s Disease Association


Huntington's Disease Awareness

Huntington’s Disease Awareness

If you are a first time reader of this blog you may not know that one of our key objectives is to raise awareness of the myriad of different medical conditions which affect the population of the planet. Indeed some have suggest that there are over 7,000 different conditions. The common cold will affect us all but Fields’ disease has been diagnosed in just two people.

Many rare conditions are genetic. Indeed the two women with Fields’ disease are twins. So today the condition we are raising awareness of another genetic condition called Huntington’s Disease. Huntington’s disease has been described as a type of dementia similar to Alzheimer’s disease.


The UK’s NHS web site describes the condition thus “Huntington’s disease is an inherited disease of the brain that damages certain brain cells.The disease damages some of the nerve cells in the brain, causing deterioration and gradual loss of function of these areas of the brain. This can affect movement, cognition (perception, awareness, thinking, judgement) and behaviour.Early symptoms can include personality changes, mood swings and unusual behaviour, although these are often overlooked and attributed to something else.”

You can find out more about its symptoms here

The theme of this year’s awareness week is the need for improve knowledge and support for mental health issues surrounding the condition. The Huntington’s Disease Association are offering tree training in the areas and they can be contacted via their site. By the way if anyone from the HDA does read this blog post you do need to improve the profile of the week on your site. The social media coverage is okay but the web is pretty poor.

Finally as our contribution we have produced a graphic to show our support. As always please like and share to help us up the profile of Huntington’s Disease Awareness Week.

Many thanks in adavnce.

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Alzheimer’s disease awareness with a garden Chelsea Flower Show – Genius idea from the Alzheimer’s Society


Michael Parkinson and Fiona Phillips

Michael Parkinson and Fiona Phillips

Award-winning garden designer Adam Frost designed The Homebase Garden – ‘Time to Reflect’ in partnership with Alzheimer’s Society at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show and welcomed Sir Michael Parkinson and the charity’s ambassadors, Fiona Phillips and Arlene Phillips to the launch of the garden at the start of this year’s show.

The garden has been awarded a Gold RHS Medal increasing Adam’s already impressive RHS Medal tally to six.

The garden was designed to celebrate memories and was hundreds of hours in the making with initial planning starting in July last year. Throughout the process, and to assist on the final stages of the build, Adam was joined by the Homebase Garden Academy students. The 11 students helped him to make his design a reality by putting into practice the skills learnt from Adam since joining the Academy last November.

The garden is home to over 4,000 plants including Foxgloves, Geraniums, Iris and Epimediums. As you move through the garden, the planting graduates from cool shade-loving woodland plants around the arbour into sun-loving yellow, white and blue plants reminiscent of English Springtime. Carved timber seats inspired by a seed pod are also located throughout the garden – providing the opportunity for people to sit and reflect in the colourful surroundings.

As celebrities descend on the show to marvel at the gardens we caught up with Fiona Phillips and Sir Michael Parkinson to hear what they thought about Adam’s Gold Medal winning creation for this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Fiona talks about the role gardens can play for people living with dementia.


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Dementia Awareness Week 2014. Please like and share to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia


Dementia Awareness Week

Dementia Awareness Week

This Sunday sees the start of Dementia Awareness Week 2014.  We have produced the graphic above to help promote the week and raise awareness of the issues surrounding dementia.  

It would be really great if you could like and share this with family and friends. To find out more about the week check out the website which will give you loads of ideas for great awareness raising events.

On their website Alzheimer’s Society have a great introduction to dementia in their media section which we reproduce here.  The term “describes different brain disorders that trigger a loss of brain function. These conditions are all usually progressive and eventually severe.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, affecting 62 per cent of those diagnosed. Other types of dementia include; vascular dementia affecting 17 per cent of those diagnosed, mixed dementia affecting 10 per cent of those diagnosed.
Symptoms of dementia include memory loss, confusion and problems with speech and understanding. Dementia is a terminal condition.”


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Alzheimer’s Society report finds dementia diagnosis is ‘drawn out and needlessly stressful’- Find out about new research into life with Alzheimer’s


 

Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s

A new report released today by Red & Yellow Care in partnership with The Alzheimer’s Society highlights that timely diagnosis, increased public awareness and improved flexibility of care need to be addressed to help pave the way for a good life with dementia.

The new report coincides with the launch of Red & Yellow Care, a new service which uniquely offers specialist, integrated dementia care that is centred around, and is tailored to the person with dementia.

The report explores what a ‘good life’ with dementia could look like and shows that currently diagnosis is often drawn out and can be needlessly stressful. What happens after diagnosis was also highlighted as being remarkably variable. Experts interviewed in the report agree that there is a need for better post-diagnostic care and support.

Arguably the single biggest barrier to achieving a good life with dementia is the acceptance and understanding of the experience of dementia in the wider community. To overcome the loneliness, alienation and segregation currently felt by many people the report states that it is imperative that dementia is accepted as a ‘new normal’, just one more of the many challenges faced by people across all walks of life. It also calls for individuals with dementia to be treated as people and not to be feared or kept ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

Additional research of members of the public commissioned to support the report backs this up by showing



that 43% of people do not think you can live a good life if you have dementia and 65% of people are scared that they or a family member will get dementia.

Unsurprisingly, there is a strong desire from individuals with dementia to remain in their own homes and to be looked after by a loved one. Yet some carers can struggle to adapt to the changing needs of their loved ones, and few have the specialist expertise to ensure that individuals receive the highest quality care at every step of their dementia journeys.

The report outlines a six-part framework for enabling a ‘good life’ with dementia – one rooted in universal notions of identity, happiness and fulfillment:

  • How to better support people with dementia to maintain their sense of uniqueness and personal identity (Respecting identity: ‘It’s not one size fits all’)
  • Achieving the right balance between memory-based activities and enjoying the here and now (Embracing now: ‘It’s a moment-living life’)
  • Ensuring people with dementia are able to experience meaningful human connections (Sustaining relationships: ‘ You don’t always need words’)
  • Ensuring people with dementia are able to experience a full range of emotions (Valuing contrast: ‘Good days and bad days’)
  • Taking risks – what are we protecting people with dementia from? (Supporting agency: ‘What’s there to worry about?’)
  • Promoting good overall health with those who are living with dementia including physical and emotional wellbeing (Maintaining health: ‘My priority in life’) 

Red & Yellow Care commissioned the report to better understand the impact of dementia on the individual, their family and carers. The right clinical care can make a big difference, but few people with dementia receive the care they need; it can be difficult to access or is completely fragmented. Red & Yellow Care was set up to overcome this fragmentation and provide high quality clinical care and support. They are a group of dementia specialists who believe in providing the quality of care that we would all want for ourselves and our loved ones.

The Red & Yellow Care team of dementia experts have ignored the status quo and designed the ideal scenario; a care system that revolves around the individual. This is delivered by providing patients with a named dementia nurse, who is supported by a fully integrated, multi-professional healthcare team. Red & Yellow Care provide a common-sense solution to a complex problem via their:

  • Diagnostic Service
  • Post-Diagnostic Care & Support Service

To find out more check out their web site at

www.redandyellowcare.com

BACKGROUND AND REGIONAL INFORMATION 

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 2,347 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 26th – 27th February 2014.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

43% of people in the UK do not think it is possible to live a good life if you have dementia. 

65% of people in the UK are scared that they or a family member will get dementia.