SAMPLE. Course introduction

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1 Awareness of Dementia Course introduction Course introduction } Often, Mary was afraid, a nameess, shapeess fear. Her impaired mind coud not put a name or an expanation to her fear. Peope came, memories came, and then they sipped away. She coud not te what was reaity and what was memory of peope past. The bathroom was not where it was yesterday. Dressing became an insurmountabe ordea Mary graduay ost the abiity to make sense out of what her eyes and ears tod her. She worried about her things: a chair, and the china that had beonged to her mother. They said they had tod her over and over again, but she coud not remember where things had gone. Perhaps someone had stoen them. She had ost so much. Mary was gad when her famiy came to visit. Sometimes she remembered their names; more often she did not. She never remembered that they had come ast week, so she reguary scoded them for abandoning her she was gad when they didn t try to remind her of what she had just said or that they had come ast week, or ask her if she remembered this person or that one. She iked it best when they just hed her and oved her. ~ (Mace and Rabins, 1984: pp.1 6) A diagnosis of dementia can be the beginning of a ong and difficut journey. Dementia not ony happens to the peope who have the condition, but aso to those around them. Famiy, friends and carers are a companions on the journey, sharing the ups and downs. The story of Mary above is a rea one. It gives us a gimpse of the word of a person with dementia and the emotiona roer coaster experienced by a concerned. Thankfuy, the future is bright. Dementia no onger needs to be viewed in terms of doom and goom. Much more is now understood about the condition and how those who have dementia can be supported. Throughout this course you wi earn about a reativey new approach to the support and care of peope with dementia an approach known as person-centred care. As a heath and socia care worker you may sometimes be faced with behaviour that you find difficut to understand and perhaps even chaenging. This course wi equip you with some of the knowedge and practica skis required so that you are abe to respond to situations such as these in the most appropriate and supportive manner. You wi be encouraged to ook beyond the behaviours and symptoms to the person themseves. Triba Education Ltd 1

2 Course introduction Awareness of Dementia By taking the time to understand the needs and emotions of the person, you shoud be abe to achieve a deeper insight into their individua experience of dementia. Like Mary, peope with dementia don t want to be reminded of their faiings or seen as dementia sufferers. They want to be treated and vaued as a person first and foremost, who just happens to have dementia. On competion of this course, you shoud: Appreciate the meaning of the term dementia and recognise the main types of dementia. Aims Understand the factors reating to an individua s experience of dementia. Understand the meaning of a person-centred approach to dementia care and how heath and socia care staff and others can impement this approach. Have an awareness of how a person-centred approach may be used to encourage positive communication with individuas with dementia. Understand ways of working with a range of individuas who have dementia to ensure diverse needs are met. Content This course has four units: DEM 201: Dementia awareness DEM 202: The person-centred approach to the care and support of individuas with dementia DEM 205: Understand the factors that can infuence communication and interaction with individuas who have dementia DEM 207: Understand equaity, diversity and incusion in dementia care 2 Triba Education Ltd

3 Dementia awareness DEM 201 introduction Introduction This first unit of your course is probaby the most fact-based. In Section 1, you wi initiay ook at what the term dementia actuay means. You wi then move on to expore a range of common signs and symptoms of dementia. In order to understand dementia, it is aso important to have a basic appreciation of how the brain inks to our emotions and behaviours. Therefore, you wi examine key areas of the brain and how damage to these areas may expain some of the difficuties that peope with dementia experience. Dementia is an umbrea term for a famiy of brain disorders. In Section 2 you wi expore the most common types of dementia. In particuar you wi ook at Azheimer s disease, vascuar dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies. In the past, peope viewed dementia in very cinica terms. We now know that there are a range of factors that can affect an individua s experience of iving with dementia, not just medica issues. One crucia factor is how heath and socia care staff and others interact with and support the person. In the fina section of this unit, you wi therefore expore a the factors that shape a person s experience of dementia and how the words, attitudes and behaviours of others can either make ife better or actuay more disabing. When you have worked through this unit, you shoud be abe to: Expain what is meant by the term dementia. Describe key functions of the brain that are affected by dementia. Aims Expain why depression, deirium and age-reated memory impairment may be mistaken for dementia. List the common causes of dementia. Outine the signs, symptoms and risk factors of the most common causes of dementia. Outine the medica and socia modes of dementia. Expain why dementia shoud be viewed as a disabiity. Describe how different individuas may experience iving with dementia. Outine the impact that the attitudes and behaviours of others may have on an individua with dementia. Triba Education Ltd 3

4 DEM 201 introduction Dementia awareness Content This unit contains three sections: Section 1: Understanding dementia Section 2: The different types of dementia Section 3: The experience of iving with dementia Assessment Once you have worked through each section, incuding the refective earning activities, you wi need to compete a series of questions caed Assessments. These can be found in a separate booket within this pack. When you have finished a of the section assessments, you shoud submit them to your tutor, who wi give you feedback on your work. Good uck with your studies! 4 Triba Education Ltd

5 Understanding dementia Section 1 Understanding dementia In this section you wi earn about: What is dementia? Some facts and figures about dementia The symptoms of dementia Understanding memory oss Understanding how key functions of the brain are affected by dementia Conditions that may be mistaken for dementia What is dementia? You wi have probaby come across words ike Azheimer s, dementia or seniity. You may not know what each actuay means, except that it has something to do with the brain, oder peope and certain behaviours that you may find chaenging.! Activity 1 Without reading any further, write down in the space beow what the term dementia means to you. Don t worry if your definition is right or wrong: simpy jot down what you think it means and may invove. You wi return to your answer at the end of this unit. Triba Education Ltd 5

6 Section 1 Understanding dementia The term dementia is often misunderstood. Dementia is not a disease or iness in itsef. It is in fact a broad term used to describe a range of signs and symptoms which invove a progressive decine in a person s menta abiities. This decine affects a person s abiity to: remember make rationa judgements communicate. This decine is the resut of damage caused to the brain by specific brain diseases (for exampe Azheimer s disease), or by a trauma within the brain such as a stroke. Whatever the cause of a person s dementia, the end resut is the same the extraordinary death of brain ces (neurons). When brain ces are damaged or die in arge numbers we ose the abiity to function in the ways that we once did. Imagine ces in the brain as a team of rugby payers, passing the ba between them, from one side of the pitch to the other. When there are ots of payers the ba is passed quicky and the team is more ikey to function as a coective unit. However, suddeny remove some of these payers and it becomes much more difficut to pass the ba as effectivey. The brain is no different: when there are ots of ces, information is passed quicky and the various parts of the brain can communicate with each other successfuy. Athough we a ose a certain amount of brain ces during the course of our ife, the rate of ce death as a resut of dementia is much more rapid and severe. Dementia is progressive and degenerative meaning the symptoms wi graduay get worse. As more and more brain ces are damaged or die, the more difficut day-to-day ife becomes for the person with dementia. 6 Triba Education Ltd

7 Understanding dementia Section 1 Some facts and figures about dementia There are an estimated 820,000 peope in the UK who have some form of dementia (Azheimer s Research Trust, 2010). Throughout the word, more than 35 miion peope are affected. As peope continue to ive onger, the number of peope who deveop dementia is set to increase. By 2025, there wi be over one miion peope with dementia in the UK. This is expected to rise to over 1.5 miion by 2050 (Azheimer s Society, 2010). Currenty there is no cure. There are a number of drugs avaiabe that appear to temporariy sow down the progression of Azheimer s disease. These drugs are known as anti-dementia drugs and incude Aricept (donepezi hydrochoride), Reminy (gaantamine) and Exeon (rivastigmine). A of these act to increase the amount of chemicas in the brain that hep heathy brain ces to communicate with each other. They are used by peope who are in the eary to midde stages of the disease. Ebixa (memantine), a newer drug that acts in a different way to the others, is thought to benefit those in the midde to ater stages of Azheimer s disease. A of these drugs may sow down the progression for a few months or even a few years. However, every person responds differenty to drug therapy so the benefits can vary consideraby from person to person. Dementia is indiscriminate. As far as we know, it sees no distinction between race, creed, coour, socia background, economic cass or geographica ocation. However, because women statisticay ive onger than men, they account for two-thirds of the peope who have dementia. The risk of deveoping dementia increases with age. Around one in a thousand peope is diagnosed with dementia under the age of 65. This increases dramaticay to around one in 50 over the age of 65 and to one in five peope over the age of 80. Younger peope can deveop dementia. Athough the risk of deveoping dementia significanty increases from the age of 65, it woud be wrong to assume that dementia is excusive to oder peope. In fact, dementia has been diagnosed in peope in their fifties, forties and even thirties. In 2010, one study found that there are over 64,000 peope under the age of 65 iving with dementia in the UK (Azheimer s Research Trust, 2010). There is a references section in the fina unit of this course if you woud ike to ook at any of these facts and figures in more detai. Triba Education Ltd 7

8 Section 1 Understanding dementia The symptoms of dementia Beow is an overview of some of the most common signs and symptoms of dementia. You may recognise some of them from your own experiences as a heath and socia care worker. Remember, no two peope wi share the same set of symptoms. This overview is to hep give you a genera guide as to what difficuties a person with dementia may encounter. Memory oss We are a forgetfu at times. However, with dementia, forgetfuness is more routine and progressivey more obvious. Memory oss is the most common feature of dementia and it is the memory of recent events that is affected first. As you wi see ater in the section, the capacity to remember further back in time (ong-term memory) usuay stays intact unti the ater stages of dementia. Disorientation Peope with dementia often become disoriented and confused regarding time, pace and direction. Momentariy forgetting the day of the week is common to a of us. A person with dementia may not be aware of the time, date or day. They can become ost in famiiar paces such as their own home or street, or forget how they got to a certain pace and not know the way back. Difficuties in performing famiiar tasks or movements Athough we a suffer from a menta bock from time to time, this is usuay a brief and temporary experience. A person with dementia may reach a stage where they are unabe to start or compete tasks which they once were abe to do amost automaticay. For exampe, a person may no onger remember the series of steps invoved in getting dressed and undressed. Difficuties with anguage Difficuty in finding the correct word is aso typicay seen among peope with dementia. Everyone has troube finding the correct word sometimes: a person with dementia may frequenty forget simpe words or substitute inappropriate words in their pace. This can make verba communication difficut. 8 Triba Education Ltd

9 501F001 LEVEL 2 AWARD IN AWARENESS OF DEMENTIA Unit DEM 201 Dementia awareness After competing your assessment pease return it to your tutor ADVICE TO ALL CANDIDATES Pease compete your persona detais and candidate statement beow. Compete a questions in this assessment. Write your answers in the spaces provided. Add any additiona work for any of the questions on pain paper and attach to this assessment. You do not need to return your competed activities in the unit just this assessment. If you require any assistance or guidance pease contact your tutor. PERSONAL DETAILS Name Contact address Postcode Teephone no. (evening) Emai (home) CANDIDATE STATEMENT (day) (work) I certify that I have read Unit DEM 201 and competed a sections in this assessment. I confirm that this is my own work. Signature Date For office use ony Candidate ref: Assessor: IV: Passed Date Re-submit Date Tutor feedback: Written Teephone Persona tutoria n n n Triba Education Ltd A-1

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11 Unit DEM 201 Dementia awareness Assessment DEM 201.1: Understanding dementia (The reference in brackets at the end of each question refers to the earning outcome within the syabus of this quaification and is for your tutor s use.) 1. Expain what is meant by the term dementia. (1.1) 2. Compete the tabe beow. (3.4) State the estimated tota number of peope diagnosed with dementia in the UK. What is the estimated wordwide number of peope with dementia? In terms of ratios, identify the prevaence of dementia in the foowing age groups: Under 65 years Over 65 years Over 80 years How many peope under the age of 65 are beieved to be iving with dementia in the UK? Triba Education Ltd A-3

12 Dementia awareness Unit DEM In the space beow, ist and then describe five common signs and symptoms of dementia. (3.2) a) b) c) d) e) A-4 Triba Education Ltd