- by VickyRN Asst. Admin Jan 1
In this blog entry we discuss the Dementia Try This Series, twelve distinct tools that can be used in the assessment of older adults with dementia. People with dementia have complex physiological and psychological needs, including personal care, comfort, safety, regular exercise, social and emotional support, mental stimulation, and a structured, predictable routine. This series offers practical guidance to effectively care for older adults with dementia.
The John A. Hartford Foundation was established in 1929 by bequest of its founders, the two brother heirs of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company fortune. The mission of the Hartford Foundation is to “improve health care for older Americans.”
The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing offers the following Try This resources free of charge to promote gerontological nursing and to build geriatric assessment skills: the General Assessment Series, the Specialty Practice Series, and the Dementia Series.
Within the nursing process, assessment is clearly the most important step in determining an appropriate plan of care. These evidence-based assessment tools can be easily implemented in 20 minutes or less. Each consists of a demonstration video and a corresponding 2-page document. These assessment guides are meant to be screening tools, however, and not diagnostic tests to diagnose illness.
In this blog entry we discuss the Dementia Try This Series, twelve distinct tools that can be used in the assessment of older adults with dementia.
Dementia is an irreversible, progressive neurodegenerative condition affecting memory, orientation, judgment, problem solving, personality, and social behavior. This mental condition is a non-specific illness syndrome, or constellation of abnormal symptoms, with many possible causes or underlying disease processes. All forms of dementia are caused by damage or injury to the brain. An individual with dementia has both a chronic and a terminal illness that follows a pattern of cognitive decline with behavioral and psychological symptoms. The person first experiences short-term memory loss with difficulty learning new things. The condition progresses to an inability to perform instrumental activities of daily living, then activities of daily living, and ultimately the person becomes completely dependent in all aspects of self-care.
An estimated 7 to 8 million Americans of all ages have some form of dementia. Types of dementia include Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, and Pick's disease. Dementia is a significant issue in an aging society, as the prevalence increases with age and doubles every five years after age 65. Quite alarmingly, an estimated one-third to one-half of the people age 85 and older suffer from some degree of dementia. With the aging baby boomers, the number of people with dementia is expected to mushroom to 20 million by the year 2050.
People with dementia have complex physiological and psychological needs, including personal care, comfort, safety, regular exercise, social and emotional support, mental stimulation, and a structured, predictable routine. They suffer from alterations in personality, delusions, hallucinations, mood disorders, functional problems, and disorders of sleep or appetite. The Dementia Series offer practical evidence-based guidance for nursing caregivers in the following key areas:
D1: Avoiding Restraints In Patients with Dementia
D2: Assessing Pain in Persons with Dementia
D3: Brief Evaluation of Executive Dysfunction: An Essential Refinement in the Assessment of Cognitive Impairment
D4: Therapeutic Activity Kits
D5: Recognition of Dementia in Hospitalized Older Adults
D6: Wandering in the Hospitalized Older Adult
D7: Communication Difficulties: Assessment and Interventions
D8: Assessing and Managing Delirium in Persons with Dementia
D9: Decision Making in Older Adults with Dementia
D10: Working with Families of Hospitalized Older Adults with Dementia
D11.1: Eating and Feeding Issues in Older Adults with Dementia: Part I: Assessment
D11.2: Eating and Feeding Issues in Older Adults with Dementia: Part II: Interventions
D12: Home Safety Inventory for Older Adults with Dementia
References
ConsultGeriRN Resource Site
Eliopoulos, C. (2010). Gerontological nursing (7th ed.). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/ Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.Last edit by VickyRN on Jan 20 -
Article Information
VickyRN is a certified nurse educator (NLN) and certified gerontology nurse (ANCC). Her research interests include: the special health and social needs of the vulnerable older adult population; registered nurse staffing and resident outcomes in intermediate care nursing facilities; and, innovations in avoiding institutionalization of frail elderly clients by providing long-term care services and supports in the community. She is faculty in a large baccalaureate nursing program in North Carolina.
APA Style Citation
VickyRN. (Jan 1). A Treasure Trove of Educational Resources for Gerontological Nursing (Part 3). Retrieved Tuesday, May 22, 2012, from http://allnurses.com/showthread.php?t=656477
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Jan 8 by BBFRNThank you for this! I'm teaching a Geri course now, and could use all the viable resources I can get.VickyRN likes this. - Guide
VickyRN likes this. - Asst. Admin
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Jan 31 by SitcomNursegreat job Vicki. I have my BC as well, and am currently on track for the Masteres program, but unfortunately i started a little late, they recinded the gerontology focus for the masters. Ah well.
These resources are helpful, and I have tagged them in my bookmarks!VickyRN likes this.
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