Dementia does not only rob people of their memories, but furthermore robs people of the respect and dignity that they deserve while under the care of healthcare professionals. Dementia is the decline in one’s mental ability, which will severely interfere with one’s daily life. “One in three people over sixty-five will develop dementia” (Goodwin,2015). Many people believe that Dementia is the same thing as Alzheimer’s disease, but they are wrong. There is much to learn about dementia in patients, such as its causes and familiar diseases, the symptoms and treatments associated, and most of all patient care. Dementia is a group of symptoms, not a disease. It is caused when the brain cells are damaged by disease such as Alzheimer’s and stroke.
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It is commonly overlooked by health care providers due to the fact that there is no one test to determine it, but more importantly the patients with memory loss just think it is a part of aging so does not think to seek help. The memory loss starts with little things such as loosing track of time which we would just think is forgetfulness, but then further progress to forgetting names and faces of the care taker for whom is caring for them. Shortly after the patient no longer has any reasoning and their problem solving skills are of no use. There is no real cure to slow or stop Dementia; however there are some drug treatments that will help temporarily improve the symptoms. Also, non drug therapy can help relieve some of the symptoms. The two risks that generally affect patients with Dementia are age and genetics, but there are some preventions to think about. Diet is a big factor, eating a healthy diet has the biggest impact because it affects the brain and the heart. Another prevention is exercising, it increase blood and oxygen flow to the brain. Lastly and most importantly the cardiovascular preventions such as not smoking, keeping a healthy weight, and keeping blood pressure within …show more content…
“An estimated 25% of hospital beds are occupied by people with Dementia” (Goodwin, 2015). Patients finding out they have dementia can be very overwhelming and generally causes them to stay longer because they do not move through the system as quickly. A patient with Dementia should be taken care of as soon as they walk in the door until the time they leave. It is known that these patients are sometimes very hard to take care of and often get disrespected and put down by the health care staff. These patients sometimes become very depressed and aggressive, sometimes saying hurtful things and becoming disruptive. Due to the memory loss it is normal for these patients to try to hurt themselves, fall, or even wander off. It is important to have knowledge of Dementia in any health care facility before the patient arrives. Most of these patients are just finding out they have Dementia so it is important to stay calm with the patient and try to help them through the process to make it a smoother transition. Not only should the health care assistant stay calm, but it is also important to keep the patient and their families calm as well. Taking the time to build a one on one relationship with the patient is important and is a much better approach than being rude and judgmental. Always maintain human rights and respect the
It is commonly overlooked by health care providers due to the fact that there is no one test to determine it, but more importantly the patients with memory loss just think it is a part of aging so does not think to seek help. The memory loss starts with little things such as loosing track of time which we would just think is forgetfulness, but then further progress to forgetting names and faces of the care taker for whom is caring for them. Shortly after the patient no longer has any reasoning and their problem solving skills are of no use. There is no real cure to slow or stop Dementia; however there are some drug treatments that will help temporarily improve the symptoms. Also, non drug therapy can help relieve some of the symptoms. The two risks that generally affect patients with Dementia are age and genetics, but there are some preventions to think about. Diet is a big factor, eating a healthy diet has the biggest impact because it affects the brain and the heart. Another prevention is exercising, it increase blood and oxygen flow to the brain. Lastly and most importantly the cardiovascular preventions such as not smoking, keeping a healthy weight, and keeping blood pressure within …show more content…
“An estimated 25% of hospital beds are occupied by people with Dementia” (Goodwin, 2015). Patients finding out they have dementia can be very overwhelming and generally causes them to stay longer because they do not move through the system as quickly. A patient with Dementia should be taken care of as soon as they walk in the door until the time they leave. It is known that these patients are sometimes very hard to take care of and often get disrespected and put down by the health care staff. These patients sometimes become very depressed and aggressive, sometimes saying hurtful things and becoming disruptive. Due to the memory loss it is normal for these patients to try to hurt themselves, fall, or even wander off. It is important to have knowledge of Dementia in any health care facility before the patient arrives. Most of these patients are just finding out they have Dementia so it is important to stay calm with the patient and try to help them through the process to make it a smoother transition. Not only should the health care assistant stay calm, but it is also important to keep the patient and their families calm as well. Taking the time to build a one on one relationship with the patient is important and is a much better approach than being rude and judgmental. Always maintain human rights and respect the