Dementia, capacity and the vulnerable adult

Question 1

How is dementia defined?

Answer 1

A syndrome due to a disease of the brain usually of a chronic or progressive nature, in which there is disturbance of multiple cortical functions, including memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language and judgement.

Question 2

What is the overall economic impact of dementia in the UK?

Answer 2

26.3 billion pounds

Question 3

Give the 7 causes of dementia?

Answer 3

1) Alzheimer’s disease
2) Vascular dementia
3) Frontotemporal dementias
4) Lewy body dementia
5) Progressive supranuclear palsy
6) Huntington’s disease
7) Prion disease

Question 4

What services are involved in caring for people with mild dementia?

Answer 4

1) Memory services

2) CMHTs (Community mental health teams)

Question 5

What 5 services are involved in caring for the people with mild/moderate dementia?

Answer 5

1) CMHTs
2) Intermediate care services
3) Alternatives to admission
4) Social care interventions
5) In-patient services - Medical/Psychiatric

Question 6

What is important for patients with severe and terminal dementia in terms of allowing them to live and die well?

Answer 6

Putting advanced planning in place

Question 7

What percentage of acutely ill medical in-patients lack capacity?

Answer 7

40% - 25% are severely cognitively impaired or unconcious

Question 8

Recent studies have shown what problems amongst physicians assessing capacity?

Answer 8

1) Knowledge about the MCA isnt as good as it should be

2) Physicians are not particularly reliable at assessing MCA in more mild cases