Clarissa Giebel, Researcher and PhD student at the University of Manchester, writes her debut Elf blog on a qualitative study about the experiences of advance care planning amongst family caregivers of people with advanced dementia.
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Andrés Fonseca summarises the findings of a recent systematic review of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of sensory, psychological and behavioural interventions for managing agitation in dementia.
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Background The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) were introduced in 2009 following the Mental Capacity Act (2005). The safeguards were put in place to be used in situations where adults had been assessed as not having the mental capacity to make informed decisions about aspects of their care or treatment in care homes and hospitals. [read the full story…]
Falls are estimated to cost the NHS more than £2.3 billion per year (College of Optometrists, 2011) and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. This fact alone should be giving us the drive to look for ways to prevent falls in healthcare settings. A systematic review recently published in BMC Nursing (Bunn et al, 2014) is [read the full story…]
Depression is a common problem in older adults with some data suggesting significant symptoms are present in over 40% of nursing home residents (Teresi, 2001). Clearly physical exercise has a number of benefits particularly with regards to cardiovascular health. Some of you may remember the Mental Elf blog back in September 2012 with positive results from [read the full story…]
Antipsychotics were discovered as an effective treatment for schizophrenia in the 1950s, but their use was expanded despite lack of supporting evidence, to treat other patient groups. This included treating aggression, agitation and other behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). There is evidence that these distressing symptoms can often be prevented or managed without [read the full story…]
End of life care is an emotive subject and perhaps none more so than in people with dementia where it can be particularly difficult to ensure that individuals get the care they want in the final months of their life. Both the Department of Health and NICE have published guidance in this area and this [read the full story…]
Regular readers may recall previous blogs where I have written about the dangers associated with antipsychotic drugs in elderly patients. Many of you have responded simply and emotionally on Twitter by saying: “Stop prescribing these drugs!” Others have recognised that the issue is far from clear cut as a fair proportion of patients do have [read the full story…]
There is remarkably little research in this field. Epidemiological studies of suicidal behaviour in children and young people from the care system have previously come mainly from Scandinavia. A Swedish longitudinal national cohort study (ref 2) from last year concluded that every seventh girl (14%) who left long-term foster family care after age 17 was [read the full story…]
