Specialist Dementia Care

What is dementia?

There are various different types of dementia, with the five most common being Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia and mixed dementia. They all have one thing in common; they’re progressive neurological disorders that affect the brain.

The word “dementia” sums up some of the common symptoms which include:

• Memory loss
• Poor concentration levels.
• Struggling with following a conversation and getting words muddled up or not being able to find the word they want to use.
• Confusion over what most people would consider simple things like “what time is it?”, “where am I?” etc.
• Significant mood changes or out of character mood swings.

• Being respectful of their condition. Understanding that sometimes the resident will remember things vividly and sometimes they’ll forget what you spoke about just two minutes ago is something tricky to deal with. It’s up to you to work with them to reduce exposure to these symptoms.
• Dealing with their frustration. Dementia symptoms can sometimes manifest themselves in frustration, confusion and sometimes even violence. It’s not uncommon for a dementia sufferer to “lash out”. When you work in specialist dementia care, it’s important you understand this and are physically able to deal with this type of incident in a safe manner.
• Working with the family. Dementia is not only tough on the person suffering with the illness, it’s difficult for close family too. As well as helping to nurture the resident, you’ll also need to work closely with the family and help support them to better understand the illness and what they can do to make the most of their visits.