Professor June Andrews

Facing the Care Challenge

Let’s use dementia nursing care as an example......

Role of the DSDC

• Information• Training• Consultancy• Change and

innovation• Research

The possible journey with dementia

I don’t have time to help them eat…

The three levels of possibility

• Policy and government

• Organisation and systems

• Personal and professional

The ten top challenges

• Consider the impairment• Work with research• Extrapolate from other impairments• Use international best practice• Stop doing pointless things• Design systems right• Get education for your support staff• Use the resources that already exists• Reduce adverse incidents• Use time management

Consider the impairment

• to remember

• to work things out

• to learn

• to deal with the normal changes of aging

• increase in stress

• Other’s responses to the impairments

Work with research that tells us

• We over medicate with antipsychotics and we don’t understand pain

• We restrain and we don’t understand exercise• We keep people in hospital too long and we

don’t communicate with relatives• We don’t study dementia and we are surrounded

by it• We don’t give access to diagnosis

Extrapolate from sensory and physical impairment

• The yellow goggles

• The soap and bath plug

• The smell and taste of food

• Falling down and anger

• Sleeping and wandering

• Learning to read and play the piano

Use international best practice

• Australian care systems

• Netherlands care home design

• French meal times

• Northern Ireland walking clubs

• Scottish dementia centre

• Danish lending museums

Stop doing pointless things

• Continence

• Aggression

• Unwanted exiting

• Medication

• Communication

Design systems right

• Involvement of relatives

• Life story work

• Meaningful activity

• Good diet and fluids

• Rest

Educate your support staff

• Law and ethics

• Self awareness

• Basic care skills

• Confidence in communication

• “How we do things around here…”

Use the resources that exist

• DSDC

• Free publications from Alzheimer organisations

• websites

• Your own training budget

• Your own people

Reduce adverse incidents

• Keep records

• Keep it light

• Use incident analysis

Time management

• The only thing that is rationed is your time

• Stop doing pointless things and focus your attention on what works

• Understand the system and be as effective as you can be

• Get help

The eleventh challenge

• Love your work and have fun – this is the best job in the world

Iris Murdoch Building, University of Stirling, FK9 4LATel. 01786 467740Email: dementia@stir.ac.ukWeb: www.dementia.stir.ac.uk