Dementia

University College London (UCL) - The Many Faces of Dementia

DSIDC -Dementia Awareness

HSELand - Dementia Enhanced Home Supports

The Open College - Dementia Care and Awareness - Students are given ample time (8 weeks) to complete the course and can start it at any time of the year.

Trinity College Dublin - Dementia (M.Sc.) - Students are required to attend the university for one week in September, approximately 15 days in year 1 and approximately 10 days in year 2.

Common response: Caregiver wakes up mom who is sleeping in her bed, tells it is time to get up and clean up, tries to help to get out of bed. Mom refuses to get out of bed and to get ready, want to stay in bed. Mom throws her pillow at caregiver, makes fists, tries to punch caregiver when caregiver attempts to try to get mom out of bed. Caregiver asked mom to calm down, explaining she is doing her job. Patient refuses help from caregiver, asked caregiver to leave.

Expert explanation: People with dementia can become aggressive for many reasons--it may be an expression of pain, fear, frustration, depression, or anger. People with dementia may not understand what you are asking them to do and become frustrated. . Use distraction, encouragement, reassurance, and try to be flexible if someone is being uncooperative and angry.

Recommended response: Mom in bed. Caregiver introduces self and plan of the day. When patient refuses to get ready for the day, caregiver offers to come back to reattempt and give choices without rush, giving ample time. When patient with dementia requests to eat in bed instead of dining table, caregiver offers alternate option of eating on the table in her bedroom, not in bed.

Common response: Mother is lying in bed during the day. Daughter asks her mother to get up but mother refuses. Daughter gives up and leaves the room discouraged.

Expert explanation: Depression and apathy occur in many persons with dementia. Apathy is different from depression. With apathy, a person may experience a lack of motivation, effort or energy to do everyday tasks, no longer have interest in talking with others or participating in activities, or show a lack of reaction to people or things that occur. People with depression may be sad or tearful, irritable, restless and have feelings of low self-worth. People with depression may also have sleep problems, loss of energy and appetite changes. See medical attention if the behavior is significant or if it is a sudden change from their usual self.

Recommended response: Mother is lying in bed during the day. Mother initially refuses to get up from bed. Daughter uses an incentive for mother to get out of bed by saying her friend is coming to visit. Mother is excited that she is having a visitor and gets out of bed. Mother goes to the living room and is enjoys working on a jigsaw puzzle with her friend.

Common response: Mother having hard time finding clothes, putting on winter clothes/inappropriate clothes. Daughter tells mom it is hot outside and wear something else, tries to rush. Mother having hard time closing button, does not know what to do with clothes. Daughter tells “what is wrong with you” and patient gets embarrassed and asks daughter to leave her alone as she can do self. Daughter insists to help and tries to grab the blouse. Mother pushes daughter away. Daughter break into tears and leave the room.

Expert explanation: Agitation and anxiety are often triggered by feeling a loss of control, misperceiving situations or actions as threats, inability to communicate clearly, and frustration with tasks or interactions with family and caregivers. How caregiver approaches and communicate a person with dementia can make a difference.

Recommended response: Daughter observes her mother who is struggling to get dressed. Daughter offers help as she sees that her mother is having hard time deciding what to wear. When mom refuses for help, daughter acknowledges mom’s feeling, tells mom that she is sorry, offers her availability in case that mom needs help, and comforts mom that she will stay and be there for mom. Daughter continues to stay with mom. Daughter helped to simplify the closet so that it is easier for mom to see inside and have fewer clothing options to choose from, clothes that are easy to put on.

Common response: Lauren's mother awakens at night and is scared by a shadow on the wall. She runs to the living room and asks Lauren for help. Frustrated, Lauren takes her mother to her room, turns on the light, shows her there's nobody there, and tells her to go back to bed.

Expert explanation: Hallucinations are a result of a problem in the part of the brain that helps interpret sights and sounds. Hallucinations involve seeing or hearing things that aren't there. They can be frightening for the person with dementia. A good approach to reduce the occurrence of hallucinations is to remove the objects that trigger them.

Recommended response: Lauren's mother runs into the living room, scared. Lauren gets up and tells her mother she'll "take care of it." She goes into the bedroom and immediately notices the trigger, a coat rack and hat projecting a shadow on the wall. She removes the trigger from the room and reassures her. She kisses her mother goodnight.