Showing posts tagged with: dementia

Dementia Training

It’s been an exciting week at Routes - The Great British Care Show last week was an empowering experience and it was lovely to see so many people passionate about the work they do.

The Alzheimer’s Society delivered an informative session about improving dementia care in a challenging health and social care sector. It got me thinking about what more we can do to help equip our staff with the knowledge and skills for working with clients with dementia.....

We are now, with the help and support of Kim from the fantastic St Ann’s Hospice, delivering Dementia Training throughout our branches to give our staff the knowledge needed to help to provide the best care possible for people with dementia. We are very lucky to have the support of such an inspiring organisation!

Dementia diagnosis rates: 'Shockingly low'

The NHS in England has been told to push for a rapid rise in dementia diagnosis rates, so that by 2015, two out of three cases are identified.

Currently fewer than half of people with dementia have a diagnosis.

A senior adviser on public health says dementia cases could be halved if more were done on prevention.

He wants wide-scale mental agility testing to identify people at risk, but critics say that would cause unnecessary fear and anxiety.

The government says the overall dementia diagnosis rate in England - about 45% - is "shockingly low". The issue was raised as a priority a year ago in the prime minister's "challenge on dementia".

This set out a programme to improve care, promote public support and understanding of dementia, and encourage research.

Now, in a progress report, NHS England says diagnosis rates should rise by more than 20% over the next two years, so two out of three cases are detected.

This would bring overall diagnosis rates in England into line with those in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Click here to read the full article.

Dementia patients 'face unfair care tax'

Dementia patients in the UK face a "care tax" because they are left to sort out much of the care they need themselves, experts say.

The Alzheimer's Society found that on average, the equivalent of £32,242 a year was spent on care per patient.

But the researchers said on average only a third - £10,784 - came from NHS or council funds, leaving a shortfall.

The charity said it was unfair as those with cancer or heart problems got their care free on the NHS.

To read the full article please click here.

Can technology help defuse the dementia time bomb?

Lack of vitamin D may 'raise dementia risk'

People lacking in vitamin D have a higher risk of developing dementia report several media outlets, including BBC News and The Independent.

A study found people severely lacking in the sunshine vitamin were twice as likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer's disease compared with people with healthy levels (50nmol/l or more).

The findings are based on a study of more than 1,650 people aged 65 and above who were followed over a period of about six years to see if they developed dementia.

Researchers found the higher the vitamin D deficiency, the higher the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

They found severe vitamin D deficiency (less than 25nmol/l) is associated with approximately twice the risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Moderately low levels of vitamin D (between 25nmol/l and 50nmol/l) are associated with a 50% increase in risk.

This study was able to show an association between low levels of vitamin D and the risk of developing dementia. But it does not prove that vitamin D deficiency causes the disease.

Other factors that can increase the risk of developing dementia, including a poor diet, lack of activity and general poor health, can also cause a low vitamin D level.

More research is needed to establish whether eating vitamin D-rich foods, such as oily fish, or taking vitamin D supplements could delay or even prevent dementia.