Dementia - Assessment Flashcards
Define dementia C D D-les
A *syndrome* • Chronic/progressive nature • Decline in cognitive functions • Deterioration in: language skills, emotional control, social behaviour
The course?
Progressive and irreversible
Treatments?
Only minimally effective in slowing progression
Sx include (5) M-DIPS
Memory loss Disorientation Impaired judgment, intellectual, social functioning Personality change Shallow / labile affect
What must the Fran-conscious nurse live and die by??
See the PERSON first … not the disease.
Advocate for others to do the same.
Practice and research needs to be focused on?
the PERSON living with the disease
What is long overdue?
“Emergence of the person” living with dementia
What about couples?
+ Fran-ism
Often see themselves not as patient and caregiver but as a unit of care.
“Push on system to value this. System expects clients, not care delivery, to change. We must FIGHT!”
5 cards:
Communication Problem / Management
Aren’t you going to feed, uh, Whiskers, Edie? Come on, go feed Whiskers. No, don’t eat it; give it to Whiskers, please!
Loss of ability to sustain attention (2)
(ATTENTION)
+ Fran-ism
Break information into small chunks
Repeat as needed
“Never hesitate to say something twice. Even say it in a different way. Be prepared to state things over and over – digestion – especially if bad news.”
Loss of ability to learn and retain (2)
LEARNING & MEMORY
Repeat instructions
Ask leading questions to affirm
Loss of ability to convey message and understand (1) (LANGUAGE)
Speak in simple sentences
Inability to recognize objects;
judge distance or spatial relations
(2) (VISUAL PERCEPTION)
Keep objects and clothing in familiar locations
Simplify environment
Inability to control or express emotions; apathy (EMOTIONAL REGULATION) (2)
Accept patient responses
Diffuse volatile situations (distract, change conversation)
5 cards:
Management / Communication Problem
If you can’t get a man to propose to you, you might as well be dead.
