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Found 142 results
  1. News Article
    It was only a year ago that Boris Johnson stood up in Parliament and said he was going to fix the long-term problems in social care. He announced a new tax - to raise about £12bn a year - would be spent on health and social care costs only. But the UK's new prime minister, Liz Truss, has already scrapped the plan. Families, carers and care providers have been left asking where the funding will now come from to fix a system, which they say is broken. Dr Jo Wilson was a high-flying international executive before she was diagnosed with dementia two years ago, aged 66. Her husband, Bill, insists he's her husband, not her carer. But he now sees to Jo's every need. Bill has had to find fight and persistence to navigate the world of dementia care. "It took me two years to get a care package in place for Jo," he explains. "And I only got that because Jo had a collapse at home and was taken into hospital." Even after it was confirmed Jo could have carers come to their home to help, Bill found the variety of staff, unreliable time keeping, and a lack of understanding of dementia, left him questioning whether it was worth it. He's now permanently exhausted, and frustrated. Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, says without a complete restructure of the social care system "thousands, if not millions, will be left without support, and the NHS will be on its knees". It is a warning heeded by others. A new poll by Ipsos Mori for BBC News, suggests more than 70% of those over 55 are not confident that social care services will provide care to those in need. More than half of responses cited staff shortages and limited public funding as their main concerns. Care providers say it's these issues that are putting them under extreme pressure. "We know currently that three in five people with dementia do not get the support that they need once they have that diagnosis. And that leads to crisis in care", says Fiona Carragher, director of policy at the Alzheimer's Society." Read full story Source: BBC News, 7 October 2022
  2. News Article
    People who have recently been diagnosed with dementia, or who are diagnosed with the condition at a younger age, are among those at increased risk of suicide, researchers have found. The findings have prompted calls for greater support for those experiencing such cognitive decline. While previous research has explored a potential link between dementia diagnosis and suicide risk, the results have been inconclusive, with some suggesting a raised risk and others a reduced risk. Now researchers say certain groups of people with dementia are at increased risk of suicide. “What it tells us is that period immediately after diagnosis is when people really need support from the services that provide the diagnosis,” said Dr Charles Marshall, co-author of the research and a clinical senior lecturer and honorary consultant neurologist at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary University of London. In the first three months after being told they had dementia, those diagnosed before the age of 65 had an almost seven times greater risk of suicide compared with those without dementia – although this reduced somewhat over time. Marshall said it was unclear whether the findings were down to dementia itself causing people to feel suicidal, or factors such as people being concerned they may become a burden to their family. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 October 2022
  3. Content Article
    Patients with dementia may be at an increased suicide risk. Identifying groups at greatest risk of suicide would support targeted risk reduction efforts by clinical dementia services. In this study, Alothman et al. examine the association between a dementia diagnosis and suicide risk in the general population and to identify high-risk subgroups. They found that dementia was associated with increased risk of suicide in specific patient subgroups: those diagnosed before age 65 years (particularly in the 3-month postdiagnostic period), those in the first 3 months after diagnosis, and those with known psychiatric comorbidities. Given the current efforts to improve rates of dementia diagnosis, these findings emphasise the importance of concurrent implementation of suicide risk assessment for the identified high-risk groups.
  4. Content Article
    There is evidence that certain subgroups of the population have a higher risk of developing dementia than others. Aside from the most important risk factor—age,—other risk factors include ethnicity, sex, learning disability and socio-economic status. This report by the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) details the impact of scientific research on health inequalities for people affected by dementia. In order to make sure dementia diagnosis and treatments are effective for everyone, we need to understand how and why different groups are affected differently, so that we can target interventions where they are most needed and maximise their benefit. The report was produced by leading dementia scientists from the UK DRI who are taking action to reduce health inequalities through their own research. This includes: Researching “blood biomarkers” to pave the way for a blood test to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. Ensuring both male and female mice are used equally in animal research so that findings can be applied to the whole population. This is policy across the UK DRI. Broadening understanding of the implications of ethnicity on risk of Alzheimer’s disease through genetic studies. Working to make clinical trials more accessible to all. Pioneering accessible, scalable, and affordable new therapies. Investigating rarer forms of dementia to plug the knowledge gap and support people living with these diseases. Addressing the environmental and lifestyle factors that impact brain health to better understand the link between socio-economic status and dementia risk.
  5. Content Article
    For people who have been diagnosed with dementia, accessing post-diagnosis support can be challenging, particularly when the systems meant to provide support are confusing, limited or in some areas, non-existent. The World Alzheimer Report 2022 looks at the issues surrounding post-diagnosis support, a term that refers to the variety of official and informal services and information aimed at promoting the wellbeing of people with dementia and their carers. This report explores the aspects of living with dementia following diagnosis, through 119 essays written by researchers, healthcare professionals, informal carers and people living with dementia from around the world. These expert essays are accompanied by the results of a survey carried out in May 2022, with responses from 1,669 informal carers in 68 countries, 893 professional carers in 69 countries and 365 people with dementia from 41 countries.
  6. News Article
    Britons of black and south Asian origin with dementia die younger and sooner after being diagnosed than white people, research has found. South Asian people die 2.97 years younger and black people 2.66 years younger than their white counterparts, according to a study by academics from University College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. A team led by Dr Naaheed Mukadam, from UCL’s division of psychiatry, reached their conclusions after studying health records covering the 21 years between 1997 and 2018 of 662,882 people across the UK who were aged over 65. They found that: Dementia rates have increased across all ethnic groups. Black people are 22% more likely to get dementia than their white peers. Dementia is 17% less common among those of south Asian background. But they have voiced concern about also discovering that south Asian and black people are diagnosed younger, survive for less time and die younger than white people. “The earlier age of dementia diagnosis in people of black and south Asian [origin] … may be related to the higher prevalence of some risk factors for dementia such as, in older south Asians, fewer years of education, and in both groups hypertension [high blood pressure], diabetes and obesity,” they write in their paper, published in the medical journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 18 September 2022
  7. Content Article
    Naaheed Mukadam and colleagues investigated the incidence of diagnosed dementia and whether age at diagnosis and survival afterward differs among the UK's three largest ethnic groups. They used primary care electronic health records, linked Hospital Episode Statistics and mortality data for adults aged ≥65 years. They compared recorded dementia incidence 1997–2018, age at diagnosis, survival time and age at death after diagnosis in White, South Asian, and Black people. The study found that dementia incidence was higher in Black people. South Asian and Black people with dementia had a younger age of death than White participants and Black participants. The authors concluded that South Asian and Black peoples’ younger age of diagnosis and death means targeted prevention and care strategies for these groups should be prioritised and tailored to facilitate take-up.
  8. Content Article
    This year, the World Health Organisation’s annual World Patient Safety Day on 17 September 2022 will focus on medication safety, promoting safe medication practices to prevent medication errors and reducing medication-related harm. Patient Safety Learning has pulled together some useful resources from the hub about different aspects of medication safety. Here we list seven tools and articles related to patient engagement and medication safety, including an interview with a patient advocate campaigning for transparency in medicines regulation, a blog outlining family concerns around prescribing and consent, and a number of projects that aim to enhance patient involvement in using medications safely.
  9. Content Article
    Research suggests that there is a wide gap in knowledge about how medical conditions affect men and women differently, and about the conditions that only affect women. As a result, women are receiving poorer medical advice and diagnosis, often leading to worse outcomes. This handbook published by digital healthcare provider Livi looks at some of the evidence surrounding sex-based health inequalities and how they are affecting women in the UK.
  10. News Article
    Two years after having Covid-19, diagnoses of brain fog, dementia and epilepsy are more common than after other respiratory infections, a study by the University of Oxford suggests. But anxiety and depression are no more likely in adults or children two years on, the research found. More research is needed to understand how and why Covid could lead to other conditions. This study looked at the risks of 14 different disorders in 1.25 million patients two years on from Covid, mostly in the US. It then compared them with a closely-matched group of 1.25 million people who had a different respiratory infection. In the group who had Covid, after two years, there were more new cases of: dementia, stroke and brain fog in adults aged over 65 brain fog in adults aged 18-64 epilepsy and psychotic disorders in children, although the overall risks were small. Some disorders became less common two years after Covid, including: anxiety and depression in children and adults psychotic disorders in adults. The increased risk of depression and anxiety in adults lasts less than two months before returning to normal levels, the research found. Read full story Source BBC News, 18 August 2022
  11. Content Article
    COVID-19 is associated with increased risks of neurological and psychiatric sequelae in the weeks and months thereafter. How long these risks remain, whether they affect children and adults similarly, and whether SARS-CoV-2 variants differ in their risk profiles remains unclear. This study from Taquet et al. looked at the risks of 14 different disorders in 1.25 million patients two years on from Covid, mostly in the US. It then compared them with a closely-matched group of 1.25 million people who had a different respiratory infection. In the group who had Covid, after two years, there were more new cases of dementia, stroke and brain fog in adults aged over 65; brain fog in adults aged 18-64; and epilepsy and psychotic disorders in children, although the overall risks were small. Some disorders became less common two years after Covid, including anxiety and depression in children and adults and psychotic disorders in adults. The increased risk of depression and anxiety in adults lasts less than two months before returning to normal levels, the research found.
  12. News Article
    "Bolder government action" is needed to address inequalities in dementia risk, the charity Alzheimer's Research UK has warned this week. The comments come in response to findings from four new studies presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) which link socio-economic deprivation with increased risk of dementia and cognitive decline. Dr Susan Mitchell, head of policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: "These findings are a stark reminder of the health gap between the most and least deprived in society, with the most deprived at a higher risk of developing dementia. "Ultimately, these inequalities are profoundly unfair, but they are also avoidable. The Government has a key role in addressing inequalities through a range of measures to improve poverty, employment, housing and education." She added: "We urge Government to make dementia prevention a key priority in its aim to level up healthcare across the country, and hope the forthcoming health disparities white paper lays the foundation for a fairer, healthier nation." Read full story Source: Medscape, 5 August 2022
  13. News Article
    Prescribing potentially harmful antipsychotic drugs to people with dementia has increased by more than 50% on average in care homes during the pandemic, new research suggests. It found that the number of people with dementia receiving these prescriptions had soared from 18% to 28% since 2018 – with prescription rates of over 50% in a third of care homes. Professor Clive Ballard, who was part of a national campaign in 2009 to reduce antipsychotic prescribing by half, said: “Covid-19 put tremendous pressure on care homes, and the majority of them must be applauded for maintaining relatively low antipsychotic prescribing levels amid incredibly difficult circumstances." “However, there were very significant rises in antipsychotic prescribing in one third of care homes and we urgently need to find ways to prioritise support to prevent people with dementia being exposed to significant harms.” Antipsychotic drugs are used to treat some of the more distressing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, such as agitation and psychotic episodes. They have only very limited, short-term benefits in treating psychiatric symptoms in people with dementia – but significantly increase the risk of serious side effects, including stroke, accelerated decline and death. Dr Richard Oakley, from the Alzheimer’s Society, added: “This study shows the shocking and dangerous scale of the use of antipsychotic drugs to treat people with dementia in care homes. “Alzheimer’s Society has been campaigning for a move away from the model of ‘medicate first’ and funded research into alternatives to antipsychotic prescriptions, focused on putting people living with dementia at the centre of their own care. “This drug-free, tailored care can help avoid the loss of lives associated with the harmful side effects of antipsychotic medications.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 4 August 2022
  14. Content Article
    1 in 6 people in the UK live with a neurological condition, but there simply isn’t the workforce or services in place to provide the support they need. Every two years, The Neurological Alliance runs My Neuro Survey to give a picture of the experience of care, treatment and support for people with neurological conditions. From a lack of mental wellbeing support, delays to life changing treatment and care and a lack of information and support at diagnosis, over 8,500 people living with or affected by neurological conditions across the UK shared their experiences in the 2021/22 My Neuro Survey.
  15. News Article
    Some pharmacies run by the High Street chain Boots have been criticised for telling some patients on multiple drugs that they can no longer have blister pack boxes, known as dosette boxes or multi-compartment compliance aids (MCCAs). Weekly pill organisers can help users keep track of their daily medication and stay safe. Pharmacists put the tablets into individual boxes in the trays, each one indicating when they should be taken. The NHS says boxes are not always available for free on the NHS and they're not suitable for every type of medicine. Tracey Hobbs' mother, Pat Garner, lives at home with care visits. For several years, she has had her MCCAs provided by her local Boots pharmacy. She takes more than 15 pills each day. Tracey says she was phoned by Boots and told that from one month later her mother would receive all the drugs in the original packaging, rather than organised into morning and night doses for each day of the week. Tracey told the BBC: "I pointed out that the blister packs were the only way we could know she had taken her medication at the right time. Handing seven individual boxes with different instructions on each one was totally unworkable and - quite frankly - dangerous". A Boots spokesperson said: "The latest Royal Pharmaceutical Society guidance indicates that the use of multi-compartment compliance aids is not always the most appropriate option for patients that need support to take their medicines at the right dose and time." "Pharmacists are speaking with patients who we provide with MCCAs to discuss whether it is the right way to support them, depending on their individual circumstances and clinical needs." Prof Gill Livingston, an expert in elderly medicine at University College London, said she was concerned to hear that some patients and their families were being told the boxes were being scrapped. She said: "Blister packs enable people with mild dementia or some memory problems to take their own medication and remain independent. They can check that they have taken it and they know they have taken the right thing, as it is already sorted out. "Later on in dementia or with other disabilities, it enables paid carers and families to help them take their medication and remain in the community and remain as well as possible." Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 June 2022
  16. News Article
    Heather Lawrence was shocked at the state she found her 90-year-old mother, Violet, in when she visited her in hospital. "The bed was soaked in urine. The continence pad between her legs was also soaked in urine, the door wide open, no underwear on. It was a mixed ward as well," Heather says. "I mean there were other people in there that could have been walking up and down seeing her, with the door wide open as well. My mum, she was a very proud woman, she wouldn't have been wanted to be seen like that at all." Violet, who had dementia, was taken to Tameside General Hospital, in Greater Manchester, in May 2021, after a fall. Her health deteriorated in hospital and she developed an inflamed groin with a nasty rash stretching to her stomach - due to prolonged exposure to urine. She died a few weeks later. Heather tells BBC News: "I don't really know how to put it into words about the dignity of care. I just feel like she wasn't allowed to be given that dignity. And that's with a lot of dementia patients. I think they just fade away and appear to be insignificant, when they're not." New research, shown exclusively to BBC Radio 4's File on 4 programme, has found other dementia patients have had to endure similar indignity. Dr Katie Featherstone, from the Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory, at the University of West London, observed the continence care of dementia patients in three hospitals in England and Wales over the course a year for a study funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. She found patients who were not helped to go to the toilet and instead left to wet and soil themselves. "We identified what we call pad cultures - the everyday use of continence pads in the care of all people with dementia, regardless of their continence but also regardless of their independence, as a standard practice," Dr Featherstone says. Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 June 2022
  17. Content Article
    People with living dementia or mild cognitive impairment and their family carers face challenges in managing medicines. This review, published in Age and Ageing, identifies interventions to improve medicine self-management for people with dementia and mild cognitive impairment and their family carers, and the core components of medicine self-management that they address.
  18. News Article
    Difficulties seeing GPs during the pandemic have hampered efforts to tackle dementia, with thousands missing out on a diagnosis, Sajid Javid has said. Announcing a ten-year strategy aimed at preventing four in ten cases of the disease, the health secretary said that delays had “stemmed the tide of progress”. GPs must play a “crucial role” in referring patients, he said. NHS leaders went further, saying a drop in face-to-face GP appointments had meant “opportunities have been lost” to spot signs of dementia. Only 62% of consultations in March were face to face, compared with 80% before the pandemic. Javid said: “By 2025, one million people in the UK are expected to have dementia, and this is expected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040. I know the Alzheimer’s Society has estimated over 30,000 people didn’t receive a diagnosis because of the pandemic. Tens of thousands are still missing out on a dementia diagnosis each year because they confuse key symptoms with getting old.” About 325,000 in England have dementia but are undiagnosed, meaning they cannot get treatment or social care support. Speaking at the Alzheimer’s Society conference, Javid said the government would publish a strategy this year, which would be “as bold as we’ve been with our ten-year plan for cancer”, focusing on prevention and research. Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Times, 18 May 2022 This week is Dementia Action Week - see our Top picks: 5 key resources about patient safety for people with dementia
  19. News Article
    A hospital trust is investigating after a patient was incorrectly diagnosed and treated for Alzheimer's disease for seven years. Alex Preston, from Anstey, Leicestershire, was 54 at the time and said the diagnosis completely destroyed his life and made him feel suicidal. Mr Preston said he was having problems concentrating at work in 2014. "The doctor thought I had low mood and anxiety," he said. Mr Preston, now 62, was sent to the Bradgate Mental Health Unit where he underwent a series of tests and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. "That's when my life was completely destroyed. "As soon as we were told that diagnosis, everything me and Susan had planned just went," he said. He was then re-examined in the pandemic and told that diagnosis was a mistake. Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) said it was undertaking an independent review of the case. Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 May 2022
  20. Content Article
    Next Steps is a tool created by the Dementia Change Action Network to help patients find the right support, at the right time, while waiting for their memory assessment appointment. Some patients are facing longer waits as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it can be an uncertain time. Next Steps provides information about what to expect from the memory assessment process and about organisations who can help.
  21. News Article
    “Smart socks” that track sweat levels, heart rate and motion are being given to dementia patients to alert carers if they are becoming distressed. The unintrusive technology was developed by Dr Zeke Steer, of Bristol Universit. Dr Steer wanted to find a way to spot the early warning signs of distress, so carers or relatives could intervene with calming techniques to de-escalate the situation. The hi-tech hosiery - which look and feel like normal socks - use e-textiles to transmit data in real time to an app, which alerts carers when stress levels are rising. The socks are now being trialled among mid to late stage dementia patients. Researchers think they will also help people with autism and other conditions that affect communication. Fran Ashby, manager from Garden House Care Home, in Bristol, said: “We were really impressed at the potential of assisted technology to predict impending agitation and help alert staff to intervene before it can escalate into distressed behaviours. “Using modern assistive technology examples, like smart socks, can help enable people living with dementia to retain their dignity and have better quality outcomes for their day to day life.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 9 May 2022
  22. News Article
    A nurse has been suspended for three months by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after forcing medication into a person with dementia's mouth. An NMC Fitness to Practise (FtP) panel found Reni Kirilova had forced medicine into the patient’s mouth, held her mouth closed and shouted ‘take your tablets’ while working at the Chocolate Quarter Care Home in Bristol, run by the St Monica Trust. Patient was reportedly distressed, waving her hands and shouting The incident occurred on 30 May 2019, seven days after Ms Kirilova began working at the care home on 23 May. She was suspended on 7 June pending a police investigation and she resigned the same day. One witness told the NMC hearing that they saw the nurse’s fingers go over the patient’s mouth for around 30 seconds while the patient was ‘flapping her hands’ and ‘trying to spit them out’. They added the patient was distressed and was ‘waving her hands everywhere’ and shouting ‘no, no, no’. Ms Kirilova denied the allegations and said that she had given the patient some water and then tilted the patient’s chin to help her swallow. The panel found that the allegation she held her hand over the patient’s mouth was not true but that she had held it closed in some way, after three witnesses corroborated this. The panel said they were not satisfied that she had considered how she would cope with stressful situations in the future and there was a risk it could happen again. Read full story Source: Nursing Standard, 7 April 2022
  23. News Article
    A nurse who admitted she was unfit to practise after dragging a patient with dementia to her room and forcefully attempting to administer a sedative has been suspended for a year by the nursing regulator. Carol Picton was working in the stroke unit at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh in November 2017 when colleagues raised concerns about her treatment of a vulnerable older woman. Witnesses who gave evidence to an NMC fitness to practice (FtP) panel said they heard the patient screaming in distress after being roughly dragged by her arm back to her room by Ms Picton. The nurse then attempted to forcefully administer the anti-psychotic drug Haloperidol without checking the correct dosage, the hearing was told. She tried to give the drug orally using a 2ml injection syringe rather than an oral syringe. Ms Picton denied forceful mistreatment and panel found no evidence she had shown insight into her misconduct When the patient spat out the drug Ms Picton gave her more without knowing how much she had ingested, risking an overdose, the panel heard. Ms Picton, who was referred to the NMC by her employer following an internal investigation, was also said to have tilted the patient’s bed to prevent her getting out and leaving her room. The panel, which found five charges proven, concluded that Ms Picton’s actions were ‘deplorable’ and amounted to harassment and abuse. Read full story Source: Nursing Standard, 21 March 2022
  24. News Article
    Lateral flow tests could cost care home visitors £73 a month, a leading UK charity has said, as it renewed calls to keep the devices free in such settings. The government has previously announced that free testing for the general public will end from 1 April, and that this will include care home visitors. However, charities have warned the shift away from free tests could place a heavy financial burden on those visiting care homes, where testing is still advised. James White, the head of public affairs and campaigns at the Alzheimer’s Society, said the proposed charge on lateral flow tests for visitors to care homes was a cruel tax on care. “Over the past two years, we’ve consistently heard many tragic stories from families struggling to visit their loved ones in care homes. For many people with dementia, this isolation has led to a significant deterioration in their condition and mental health,” he said. “With infection rates rising once again, the government must provide free lateral flow tests for all visitors to care homes so that families are not put in an agonising position where they are forced to ration visits, leaving people with dementia once again isolated and alone.” Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s charity director, said: “No one should have to pay out of their own pocket for tests in circumstances where the expert advice is clear that testing remains an important safeguard against Covid,” she said. “If care home visitors are going to continue to be asked to keep testing to protect their loved ones, it would be completely unacceptable to expect them to pay.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 15 March 2022 Further reading Visiting restrictions and the impact on patients and their families: a relative's perspective
  25. Content Article
    As well as having a significant negative impact on the health and wellbeing of people with dementia, falls increase service costs related to staff time, paramedic visits, and A&E admissions. This study in the Journal of Patient Safety examined whether a remote digital vision-based monitoring and management system had an impact on the prevention of falls. The authors concluded that a contact-free, remote digital vision-based monitoring and management system reduced falls, fall-related injuries, emergency services time, clinician time, and disruptive night time observations. This benefits clinicians by allowing them to undertake other clinical duties and promotes the health and safety of patients who might normally experience injury-related stress and disruption to sleep.
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