Guidelines for the Clinical Plan of Care
Dementia is often used as an umbrella term for a vast variety of mental-health-related disorders (Sheehan, 2012). Although other factors such as genetic makeup and disposition also affect the patient’s chances of developing dementia, age is often a critical factor (Arevalo-Rodriguez et al., 2014).Therefore, addressing the issue of dementia in senior citizens is a crucial step toward the improvement of the quality of care.
When considering the guidelines for managing the needs of patients with dementia, one should check the recommendations for managing the disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, the data provided by the organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Development (2013) should be viewed as the primary source of information about the interventions.
Diagnosing the Problem: Advanced Practice Procedures
Seeing that dementia is not a specific disease but, rather, a general term for a range of mental issues, the process of diagnosing the problem may vary depending on the symptoms. However, general test tools such as AMSTAR and PRISMA can be used to determine the presence of dementia in patients. By using the identified tools, one will be able to isolate the factors that affect the well-being of patients negatively and, therefore, define the problem accurately (Arevalo-Rodriguez et al., 2014).
As a rule, the tests mentioned above, as well as similar assessments, allow determining possible cognitive impairments in patients. Furthermore, the changes in the patients’ functions, behaviors, and quality of life can be viewed as important aspects of evaluation. In addition, the presence of depression, as well as the identification of the dementia severity, should be listed among the primary issues that require a detailed analysis (Sheehan, 2012). Herein lies the rationale for using the specified tests as the tools for patient assessment.
Advanced Technology for Patient Monitoring and Management of Emergencies
When considering the situations that may jeopardize the life of a patient with dementia, one must bring up the fact that the target population suffers from disorientation and short-term memory loss (Sindi et al., 2015). Therefore, the situations in which patients forget essential information, such as the location of their home, or suffer a fall or a related trauma, can be viewed as the key reasons for concern (Arevalo-Rodriguez et al., 2014). For instance, the tracking devices such as MindMe should be viewed as the solution to the identified problem (Azimi, Rahmani, Liljeberg, & Tenhunen, 2016).
Furthermore, the devices providing patients with an opportunity to call for help and contact the nearby nursing facility have to be mentioned among the essential monitoring and management tools. For example, SafeLink can be deemed as a fairly efficient device. Serving as the means of contacting a nursing facility, it prevents the instances in which a patient with dementia is left entirely helpless (Doughty, Godfrey, & Mulvihill, 2012).
Evidence-Based Plan of Care: Steps
In order to provide high-quality care to patients with dementia, one will have to consider the following steps:
- Provision of the relevant information to patients and their family members;
- Availability of the relevant resources and services;
- Focus on communication and building strong relationships between a patient and a healthcare practitioner;
- Emphasis on participation in activities;
- Consistency in the quality of care;
- Regular monitoring and assessment.
As soon as the steps mentioned above are taken, a significant improvement in the patient’s well-being can be expected. It is essential that both the patient and their family members could have access to the relevant information and services. Thus, accidents can be prevented, and the influence of negative factors can be reduced.
Summary
The concept of dementia covers a range of mental disorders that may develop as people age (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease). AMSTAR and PRISMA are typically used to measure the progress of the problem. To make sure that a sufficient level of care is provided, one must make sure that the patient has the access to the existing information and communication systems.
References
Arevalo-Rodriguez, I., Segura, O., Solà, I., Bonfill, X., Sanchez, E., & Alonso-Coello, P. (2014). Diagnostic tools for Alzheimer’s disease dementia and other dementias: an overview of diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) systematic reviews. BMC Neurology, 14(1), 183-190. Web.
Azimi, I., Rahmani, A. M., Liljeberg, P., & Tenhunen, H. (2016). Internet of things for remote elderly monitoring: a study from user-centered perspective. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 1(1), 1-18. Web.
Centers for Disease Control and Development. (2013). Advance care planning: Ensuring Your wishes are known and honored if you are unable to speak for yourself. Web.
Doughty, K., Godfrey, D., & Mulvihill, B. (2012). Self-care, plesio-care, telecare and m-care: a new assisted living model. Journal of Assistive Technologies, 6(4), 292-301. Web.
Sheehan, B. (2012). Assessment scales in dementia. Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders, 5(6), 349-358. Web.
Sindi, S., Calov, E., Fokkens, J., Ngandu, T., Soininen H., Tuomilehto, J., & Kivipelto, M. (2015). The CAIDE Dementia Risk Score App: The development of an evidence-based mobile application to predict the risk of dementia. Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, 1(3), 328-333. Web.