The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is used to assess a person’s decision-making ability and to make a best interests decision where the individual lacks the capacity to do so. The act was considered to have the potential to maximise the autonomy of individuals with mental or cognitive impairments, but this has not been fully realised. Since the act came into force, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has challenged many of the principles underpinning the act. That challenge and how existing provisions in the act can be implemented to increase autonomy and control for people with cognitive or mental impairments are discussed. The principles of the convention are described and potential future amendments to the law are identified. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Melissa Bunting and Catharine Jenkins investigate the effect of caring among different cultural groups and recommend culturally congruent interventions to support carers. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
NHS England has today announced a £1.75m investment in an innovative family-based initiative to help more people to be cared for in a home, not a hospital.
The Shared Lives model will support people who have needs which make it hard for them to live on their own, by carefully matching them with a carer to share their family and lives, giving care and support in the community.
People using the scheme may have learning disabilities, dementia, mental health problems or other needs which require long or short term support. It will offer them the opportunity to either live with their matched and approved Shared Lives carer, or visit them regularly for day support or overnight breaks.
Citalopram has been shown to improve agitation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The authors evaluated whether other neuropsychiatric symptoms improve with citalopram treatment compared with placebo. Login at top right hand side of page using your SSSFT NHS Athens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
The main objective of this study was to summarize the effects of various individual, caregiver, and system-related factors on the risk of long-term care (LTC) placement for persons with dementia. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Getting Along is a short programme that supports couples to work together to explore the impact of dementia within their relationship and to find mutual ways to overcome any presenting difficulties.
The increasing call for early dementia diagnoses still leaves a gap in actual practical peri- and post-diagnostic support.
The primary goal of this article is to critically discuss the syndromic overlap that exists between early behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD)—the most common clinical syndrome associated with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD)—and several primary psychiatric disorders. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Impairment of visual perception frequently occurs in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and can cause severe constraints in daily activities. The nonverbal Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices (RCPM) test consists of sets A, AB, and B and is easily performed in a short time to evaluate both visual perception and reasoning ability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the neural basis of visual perception and reasoning ability in patients with AD using RCPM and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
There was a dramatic decrease in rates of dementia among older men, which almost halved for those aged 80 and over. Although rates for women also fell, the changes were much smaller. It is unclear why a similar strong trend was not seen in women.
Both the authors and the media speculate that positive trends in men's health – such as reduced smoking levels, improved diets, and more men taking regular exercise – could be responsible for the falling rates. While these are certainly plausible suggestions, they are unproven.
Dementia prevalence is anticipated to increase with ageing of the population since age is a risk factor for dementia. The diagnosis of dementia in primary care settings has been encouraged in the UK by national directives1 and financial incentives2 in the hope that this will facilitate earlier therapeutic intervention. However, a significant ‘dementia diagnosis gap’ (the difference between expected and observed numbers of cases of dementia diagnosed) remains, perhaps related to underuse of cognitive screening instruments in primary care despite their being specifically designed for assessment of memory complaints in this setting.3 Simple questions that might facilitate early dementia diagnosis in primary care may help to address this diagnostic gap. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Researchers claim to have found a link between gum disease and greater rates of cognitive decline in people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Two major UK charities have announced £100m of new partnership funding for the UK’s first Dementia Research Institute – one of the single biggest financial commitments to dementia research in the history of both charities. Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK have pledged £50m each towards the work of the Institute, led by the Medical Research Council, making the total commitment over a quarter of a billion pounds.
The majority of patients with dementia develop behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Non-pharmacological interventions are an appealing alternative for the treatment of BPSD in patients with dementia. Simulated presence therapy (SPT) is a simple and inexpensive non-pharmacological intervention that can be used to treat BPSD. Open Access Article
Through a three-stage project in a specialist memory clinic in Australia, researchers introduced ACP to clients with mild cognitive impairment or recently diagnosed dementia and their families. Clients and carers were initially posted a survey assessing completed documentation for future care, understanding of the principles of ACP and willingness to receive further information. Those wanting more information were invited to a seminar introducing the ACP programme and service. Participants wanting to complete ACP documentation could make an appointment with the ACP clinicians. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Patients who have rosacea are at increased risk of developing dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
The NHS Vanguard projects include six in care homes and they have a number of aspirations and drives to innovation in practice to improve the care of people with dementia, but not exclusively so.
During Dementia Awareness Week, Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust opened on Friday 20 May a non-alcoholic dementia pub and also dementia café at one of its sites to help patients with dementia feel at home and improve their overall wellbeing.
Now complete, both the mock pub and café are open at The Harbour, a mental health hospital run by the Trust in Blackpool, as part of efforts to help people with dementia feel comfortable in a familiar environment.
delirium and dementia co-exist commonly in hospital. Older people with delirium have high rates of undiagnosed dementia, but delirium affects the use of cognitive testing in dementia diagnosis. Novel methods to detect dementia in delirium are needed. The purpose of the study was to investigate the diagnostic test accuracy of informant tools to detect dementia in hospitalised older people with delirium. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
D. Gall, J. Lugrin, D. Wiebusch, и M. Latoschik. Proceedings of the 21th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI), стр. 191-195. ACM, (2016)