As dementia affects a person's mental abilities, they may find planning and organizing difficult. Being independent may also become a problem. A person with dementia will therefore usually need help from friends or relatives, including help with decision making. Most types of dementia can't be cured, but if it is detected early there are ways to slow it down and maintain mental function. Dementia is a collection of symptoms including memory loss, personality change, and impaired intellectual functions resulting from disease or trauma to the brain.
Discuss the deficits Mr Lusk has presented with. Mr Lusk has presented with many of the signs of Dementia. Mr Lusk’ inability to perform everyday tasks and reported progressive memory loss are both factors in Dementia. Mr Lusk’ is also wandering and getting lost in familiar setting this is a sign that Mr Lusk is disorientated with time and place which is an early warning sign of Dementia. Other early warning signs that Mr Lusk has presented with are deficits in language often people with Dementia forget how to speak simple words which can impact on the ability to have a conversation with the person, judgement, insight and thinking are also signs of Dementia people with Dementia have a hard time with abstract thinking and can’t problem solve as well as they use to.
The person may substitute an incorrect word, or may not find any word at all. There may come a time when the person can hardly communicate accurately or successfully by using language. This may be distressing for their loved ones, but it's a normal aspect of their memory loss. As the symptoms of dementia
Older adults who are hard of hearing often report that their hearing loss causes communication problems, which can result in difficulty thinking or concentrating. This results in inattentiveness, distraction, and boredom. The most serious consequence is withdrawal or abandoning participation. Older adults with hearing loss face many of the same fears that anyone with a disability encounters. They worry about loss of significant relationships or jobs or about being perceived as incompetent.
Unit 393 – UNDERSTAND SENSORY LOSS 1.1 Sensory loss can often be a hidden disability which can frequently lead to isolation and frustration at not being able to communicate efficiently with other people. With hearing loss, day to day activities such as watching television, using the telephone, hearing the doorbell, or just taking part in conversations can produce feelings of inadequacy. Conversely, not being able to distinguish faces, read the time on a clock or drive can produce the same feelings in a person who has vision loss. Having a dual sensory loss compounds the frustration and isolation a person feels when trying to communicate effectively. Many blind and partially sighted people lose the ability to see gestures and facial expressions, which are important parts of communication.
1.1 Describe how memory impairment can affect the ability of an individual with dementia to use verbal language. Words are hard to come by and they can struggle over the appropriate word to the point that it interrupts their flow of conversation; sometimes they will select the wrong word. This is very frustrating but in some forms of dementia it can also mean they lose short term memory and will repeat themselves, not remembering that they have told you about their day or not remembering your answers e.g. asking over and over is it Thursday today? This makes conversation stilted and difficult to maintain.
Less commonly, a non-degenerative condition may have secondary effects on brain cells, which may or may not be reversible if the condition is treated. The causes of dementia depend on the age at which symptoms begin. In the elderly population, a large majority of cases of dementia are caused by Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia or both. It is rare to have dementia in young people 1.2 Describe the types of memory impairment commonly experienced by individuals with dementia. The memory impairment may result in lack of attention, forgetting language, forgetting names and identity of friends and relatives and lose of ability to solve problems.
Understand And Enable Positive Interaction And Communication With Individuals Who Have Dementia Different forms of dementia can affect the way a person can communicate. The differences are; • Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and with that individuals may have trouble following a sentence, finding the right words or calling things by the wrong name. Verbally communicating may be difficult do the lack of understanding of what is being said, or communicating coherently. • Vascular dementia mainly affects cognitive ability, also memory is also affected. So expressing themselves using body language may be difficult do to lack of cognitive control in their limbs, or hands.
Dementia Awareness Unit 237 Dementia is a condition which is the gradual loss of brain function, this also makes it degenerative. It can include symptoms such as memory loss, confusion, problems with speech and understanding. Dementia at the moment has no cure, as it has a number of diseases that coincide with it. Alzheimer’s is part of dementia. Functions that are affected by dementia are; Short term Memory loss, Language skills, the ability to interpret information, spatial skills, judgement and attention.
1.3 -Explain why depression, delirium and age-related memory impairment may be mistaken for dementia This may be the case because they all share many of the same symptoms as dementia, for example depression can manifest as anxiety, irritability, sleep disturbance, changes in appetite, weight loss or occasionally weight gain, fatigue, decreased energy and difficulty concentrating, thinking or making decisions. Delirium can produce reduced awareness of the environment, wandering attention, being withdrawn, poor memory and difficulty speaking or recalling words. Age-related memory impairment can include forgetting where you left things you use regularly, forgetting names, forgetting an appointment,