Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a group of disorders that include a continuing deterioration in cognitive function, which ultimately ends in relentless cognitive impairment (Alzheimer Society, 2007) . Dementia is defined by a progressive decline in functional areas, including decline in memory, reasoning, communication, and abilities to carry out daily life activities. This view is supported by the Department of Health (2009), adding that this individual may develop behavioral and psychological symptoms including depression, psychosis, aggressive behavior and wandering (Department of Health, 2009) . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'? Get an original essay In the work of the National Audit Office (2008), they indicate that the terminal symptoms of dementia include physical frailty, problems with eating and swallowing, weight loss, incontinence and speech difficulties (National Audit Office. 2008). The term dementia has been used for decades by doctors to describe people. There are different types of dementia depending on the symptoms a person exhibits. These include Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and dementia with Lewy bodies. The symptoms experienced and exhibited by a person tend to progress gradually over time. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. It was first described in 1906 by a German neurologist, Dr. Alois Alzheimer. This type of dementia usually occurs in older people. This often results in loss of memory, speech, movement, and the ability to think clearly/logically. Alzheimer's disease is caused by abnormal protein deposits in the brain. The National Institute on Aging (2011) states that "in Alzheimer's disease, the loss of brain cells causes the brain to shrink; bundles of proteins called "plaques" and "tangles" gradually form in the brain, these fascicles are believed to be responsible for the loss of brain cells leading to a decline in a person's mental and physical abilities, including poor short-term memory of events, loss of concentration and decision-making, disorientation and loss of ability to carry out daily life activities, which may include washing and dressing, meal times and lack of social inhibitions. Alzheimer's disease gets progressively worse over time. People begin to lose skills such as the ability to prepare meals, manage money, and take care of their health on a daily basis (such as bathing and shaving). A person with Alzheimer's disease may once have been able to easily make their own cup of tea, but as the disease progresses they may now need supervision as they may forget to put in the tea. water in the kettle before boiling. Vascular dementia is the second most common type of dementia. This type of dementia occurs when the brain lacks oxygen. The most common cause is a stroke. Timo (2012) states that “vascular dementia is caused by decreased blood flow to the brain, which damages and ultimately kills brain cells.” The affected person can often experience damage to specific areas of the brain, such as coordination, communication or memory loss. A person with this type of dementia may be able to function normally in themost aspects of her daily life, but struggling with something she didn't have before. A person may have once been very capable of having good conversations about the past, but as this type of dementia worsens, the person may have difficulty remembering details of the past and forget important events in their life. . If vascular dementia is diagnosed early enough by a doctor, its progression can often be slowed by a combination of lifestyle changes and medications. Spiking (also known as frontotemporal or frontal lobe) is a less common type of dementia than others. mentioned. This type of dementia is caused by damage and shrinkage of two areas of the brain, the temporal lobe and the frontal lobe. This can often develop in those under 65 and is sometimes hereditary. It is estimated that 20% of cases have inherited a genetic mutation from their parents. (NHS.2015) This part of the brain is responsible for things such as a person's behaviors, emotions, and language. This happens when nerve cells in the frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain die and the pathways between them change. A person with this type of dementia may exhibit aggressive behaviors or outbursts of anger that they had not historically exhibited over small things. People who support someone with this syndrome will often see this as unusual for the person and may be difficult to accept and understand the changes in the sufferer. Another type of dementia can be caused by dementia with Lewy bodies, small circular clumps of proteins. that develop inside brain cells. In Howard's (2007) work, it is not clear how they damage the brain, but they appear to have an effect on normal brain function. This type of dementia is less common and shares symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Because it shares these common symptoms, it can often be misdiagnosed. It is named after the German scientist who first identified it in 1912, Fredrick H. Lewy. This can often affect a person's ability with balance, coordination and eyesight. A person with this type of dementia who previously had good eyesight may begin to experience double vision or hallucinations. Symptoms can often include stiffness and slow actions (very similar to Parkinson's disease). Huntington's disease is a rare genetic disorder that causes progressive brain damage, AIDS, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Additionally, dementia or similar symptoms may be caused by the following conditions: Deficiencies of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and/or B12; Syphilis; Alcohol-related dementia; Thyroid insufficiency; Depression; Normal pressure hydrocephalus (fluid accumulation in the brain); Brain tumors (Dementia Partners.2008); they can be treated or prevented from progressing. A person with dementia may experience many changes that will affect their daily life depending on the type and stage of dementia they have. Often progressive, the person will experience memory decline or loss as their dementia worsens. Memory is a person's ability to store and remember information they have learned or received. This can present itself in several ways. At first, the person may have trouble finding the correct word in a sentence or forget where they placed something like their shoes. However, as dementia progresses, it can become much more significant, serious and dangerous. The person may go out and forget where they areor how to get home. It can also have an emotional effect on the family, as the person may no longer recognize their family members. Dementia can cause a person to behave in ways that would not be considered usual or normal by those close to them, such as changes in behavior. Behavior is the way a person acts or presents themselves. Changes in behavior may vary as a person's dementia progresses. It is not uncommon for a person with dementia to become verbally or physically aggressive about things that would not have had this effect in the past. From an outside perspective, it can often be seen that the person has been difficult or difficult, when in reality they are trying to convey a message that they no longer have the ability to explain. It could be boredom or a need for something. A person with dementia may once have been a cheerful morning person, but is now very agitated in the morning and verbally aggressive. There could be reasons for this though, as the person may have always had a cup of coffee in the morning before getting dressed, but they have lost the ability to brew the coffee and this has ruined their morning routine as they no longer does things in order. whom they love, because they need the support of others. A person's ability to reason may be affected by their dementia. Reasoning is a person's ability to think about things and process them in a sensible, logical way. A person may seem stubborn about the way they want things or be seen as selfish and unwilling to adjust their plans even if they make things easier for them. . This can present itself in several ways. A person may be a wheelchair user and suffer pain when lifted. Instead of getting dressed before breakfast, they may insist that they want to be hoisted into their chair for their breakfast in the morning and go to the dining room before being hoisted into the chair again. their bed to get dressed, then on their chair to leave. of their day. A much simpler solution that would have caused them less pain could have been to eat breakfast in bed before getting dressed or to dress then eat breakfast, meaning they are hoisted and cause less pain. The person may have lost the ability to reason about this and think logically about the benefits it would bring to them by being hoisted fewer times. The abilities of a person with dementia often fluctuate and decline over time. Capacity is a person's ability to be able to do something. As time progresses with dementia, the person's abilities often decline and what they were once able to do easily becomes much more difficult or unachievable. The person may have already been able to walk to their local supermarket and bring a bag of groceries home. As their abilities decline, they can no longer walk to the store down the street and may need someone to support them and help them carry the bag home. An individual's communication can vary significantly as their dementia worsens. Communication is a person's ability to send and receive information through various means, such as speaking and writing. This often gets progressively worse over time. A person may lose the ability to hold a pen and write clearly and legibly. This may also be affected by the fact that the person may start to struggle to find the correct words to use in a sentence and therefore struggle to communicate what they want to say to others in a wayappropriate. Information processing constitutes an essential element of individuals' daily lives. It can be broken down into 3 simple parts: acquisition, storage and retrieval. Acquisition is the first part of this process. This is when the person gets information into their memory system or learns information to memorize. If the information is not collected, it cannot be remembered for a later date. This part is very sensitive to interference and requires special attention. If a person is sitting in a vault and sees a group of men walking by dressed as superheroes for a bachelor party, they may later remember seeing the men walking by dressed but not be able to to remember what they were dressed in. at the time. This is because they weren't paying attention and there was interference as they focused on their order arriving at the table. The second part is information storage. This bit involves holding information in your memory for a certain amount of time. Memory storage depends on your storage capacity. This involves things like remembering your first family vacation. The third part is information retrieval. This part involves extracting stored information and using it in the present moment. Some of this information is very easy to remember and seems to require no effort, such as remembering where you work or your date of birth. Other things that you can be consciously aware of in the research process that you need to remember might be things such as remembering the street you first lived on. There are 2 types of memory short and long term. Short-term memory can be described as working memory and is said to be stored for approximately 20 seconds. Long-term memory is anything that is stored longer and requires more conscious thought processes to retrieve the information. During dementia, nerve cells in the brain gradually die, affecting the person's ability to process information effectively. As these brain cells die with dementia, the person may not be able to complete tasks in a structured order or process information to think rationally about the best way to do things. Because dementia has many signs and symptoms, these can often be attributed to other conditions and not to the dementia. It is thought that people with long-term, untreated depression are more likely to suffer from dementia later in life. Because many symptoms of depression are similar to those that affect a person with dementia, they can often be difficult to distinguish. Some of the common signs are anxiety, lack of appetite, and sleeping more. Often, looking or hearing small details can make a difference. Someone saying things like "I feel very alone" or "I want to die" might lead more toward someone suffering from depression than dementia. People with dementia can often find themselves with vision problems, leading to misinterpretations, misidentifications and illusions. Although this does not always mean that the person has dementia. A person suffering from other eye conditions like cataracts, glaucoma, and muscle degeneration may experience the same signs and symptoms. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) can be confused with dementia in older adults. Young people with a urinary tract infection sufferoften have symptoms such as stomach pain, back pain, chills or fever. As people age and their immune systems change, the symptoms of a UTI also change. People may begin to experience side effects such as confusion, agitation, or withdrawal. These are very similar to some signs and symptoms of dementia and therefore can be difficult to distinguish until a proper diagnosis is made by a doctor following tests. Long-term use of drugs or medications can also have side effects on a person with signs and symptoms similar to someone with dementia. The person may lose certain bodily functions, such as bladder control, or experience changes in behavior over time. Seniors who have lived in the same house and environment for many years and then move can often become confused and forget where things are in their new home. These signs of forgetfulness and disorientation are very similar to those seen in dementia. When a person has dementia there will be one or more changes in the person, this will depend on the type of dementia diagnosed and the stage at which their dementia is reached. Each individual is unique in the changes they will experience and present to others. It is important to get support from professionals when supporting a person with dementia to ensure that they get the help and support they need, but also to ensure that the person's knowledge who accompanies the person allows them to provide person-centered support and understand the changes they are experiencing. experiences. With Alzheimer's dementia, the person often begins with mild symptoms and impaired abilities. Common impairments that a person with Alzheimer's disease will be affected are remembering things, speaking (finding the right word), thinking clearly (solving problems), and making rational decisions. People with early onset may say a sentence with the wrong word in it, so it makes no sense. They may not remember that they agreed to meet a friend for coffee on Wednesday or that they have a doctor's appointment. As dementia progresses and worsens, these symptoms and abilities worsen and diminish. This type of dementia usually gets progressively worse over the years. Towards the end, speech often becomes rare and the person is entirely dependent on others to complete daily tasks. The person can only communicate by pointing or moving their head in later stages of this dementia. They will not be able to perform tasks such as caring for themselves and preparing meals, they will be dependent at this stage on the full support of family members and caregivers. This is due to increased damage to the brain, leading to loss of brain cells, significant shrinkage of brain tissue and an increase in 'tangles' and 'plaques' which cause brain cells to die more quickly than in normal brain tissue. normal aging. Vascular dementia, as previously noted, damages specific parts of the brain. In this case, the person will likely retain many of their abilities and be more aware of their decline. For this reason, a person suffering from vascular dementia is more likely to be prone to depression. Because of this depression, it can often be confused with vascular dementia because the symptoms are transferable in several ways. As vascular dementia is oftenthe result of a stroke, leaving weakness in certain areas such as vision and speech, rehabilitation can promote some degree of recovery. . Therefore, a person's abilities may vary depending on their recovery and the severity of the dementia they suffer from. Lewy body dementia is often closely linked to Parkinson's disease. People with Parkinson's disease often develop this type of dementia. This mainly affects coordination and vision. Because their signs and symptoms are very similar, they can often be confused, especially in the early stages. As the person may also suffer from lucidity, he or she may also be prone to suffering from depression. At first, the person's abilities may vary from hour to hour. In these cases, the person can often be seen as "lazy" or "difficult" due to a lack of understanding on the part of the person supporting them or a lack of diagnosis. At one point, the person may be able to walk around their home freely, but soon after, they may need to be supported using handrails. A person with Pick's dementia will often have complete memory at first, but their personality and behaviors will change. They may lack empathy and the ability to reason with others, thus becoming aggressive. This can make the person seem selfish. The person may be able to happily carry on a conversation at one moment, but become agitated and lack concentration the next. If dementia is diagnosed early, it allows planning for the future while the person is still capable. It allows them to express themselves and their wishes on topics such as finances, their care and legal matters. This also opens up a range of treatments available. Although there is no cure for dementia, early diagnosis can open the door to certain treatments and rehabilitation that can slow the progression of dementia and allow the person to live as normal a life as possible for as long as possible. . The earlier the diagnosis, the more support they and their families can receive in planning, counseling and guidance for the new challenges they will face. Although the person may be extremely shocked when they are diagnosed with dementia, this will often enable them to receive the appropriate support and care they need. Early diagnosis can often enable the person to continue living independently in their own home for longer, without being admitted to a care home. There are a range of treatments available for someone diagnosed with dementia, some are medication related and some are not. These medications are called “anti-dementia medications” and include Donepezil hydrochloride, Galantamine, and Rivastigmine. These medications help increase the amount of chemicals in the brain that help healthy brain cells communicate. Although they do not cure dementia, they can help slow its progression. It is important that early diagnosis is made when possible so that the appropriate care plan can be put in place for the individual. This will also allow the individual to participate in their care plan and plan in advance for when their dementia will worsen and their care plan will need to be increased. Ensuring early diagnosis requires good reporting and evidence collection. This will allow the correct diagnosis to be made. Page 7of 11 and allow the elimination of other conditions that may present signs andsimilar symptoms, such as depression, urinary infections and eye diseases. There are two ways to support someone with dementia. The first is to use a person-centered approach. This approach was first developed in the field of dementia in the 1990s, among others, by Professor Tom Kitwood of the Bradford Dementia Group. This approach aims to give priority to the person with dementia. Meet their needs and wishes before those of others. In this approach, the person and not the dementia is placed at the center of everything that is done for the person. The second way is to first look at the dementia and the problems and not the person behind the dementia. In this non-person-centered approach, things will often be task-oriented and not based on the needs and emotions of the individual. Here are some differences between person-centered and non-person-centered approaches: 1. See the person first and their dementia second – in a person-centered approach, the person would be the focal point of everything is done, looking beyond the person. dementia and the person responsible for it. In a non-person-centered approach, dementia would be seen as the problem and tasks would be accomplished in the quickest way, regardless of the person's wishes and emotional well-being. Meeting psychological needs – in a person-centered approach, the person would be involved wherever possible, given a sense of value, belonging and a feeling of being loved. In a non-person-centered approach, the person's emotions and worth would not be at the forefront of their care. Focus on accomplishing the task rather than the person.3. Behaviors – in a person-centered approach, the person's behaviors, no matter how extreme or strange, would be seen as a way of trying to communicate something and would be viewed in a positive light. In a non-person-centered approach, these behaviors would be considered challenging and disruptive.4. Understanding and promoting “personality” – In a person-centered approach, the person would be treated as an individual and made to feel unique. In a non-person-centered approach, the person would be seen as another person with dementia, treating them all the same. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a personalized essay5. Promote strengths and abilities – In a person-centered approach, the person's choices, independence and dignity would be respected at all times. Their assets would be concentrated, used and exploited. In a non-person-centered approach, choices would be made for them, their independence would be taken away and their dignity would not be respected. 6. View dementia as a disability: In a person-centred approach, the care provided would be tailored to the needs and wishes of the person, treating each person as an individual. In a non-person-centered approach, everyone would be treated the same and things would be done in the quickest way to accomplish the caregiver's tasks and not in the way most suited and desired by the individual. When starting to work with dementia, it is important that people understand the person's condition. The best way to do this is to educate yourself about the condition. If you work for a care agency, training on the specific dementia a person is working with should..