ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Carers' diaries have been used in very few instances in dementia to assist with gathering information about persons with dementia in the community. The main aim of this study was to compare problems identified using diaries kept by family carers for a week with carers' oral recollection of problems. METHOD: Carers were randomly allocated into two groups, diary and control groups. In the diary group, carers received a diary and instructions on how to complete it for 7 days. RESULTS: A total of 78 carers completed the study. The frequency of problems identified in the carers diaries was greater than in the carers' narrative accounts at day 1 and day 8. The most common problems were behavioral and cognitive problems. DISCUSSION: Carers' diaries may complement the assessment of dementia as they can provide more information on the problems faced by the persons with dementia.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: With the increasing concerns over the safety of some pharmacological interventions or lack of sufficient evidence of effectiveness in managing neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia, there is a constant need to review how such patients are managed. This study looks at the prevalence and management of behavioural and psychiatric symptoms amongst patients with dementia in a National Health Service (NHS) continuing care unit. METHOD: In this study, a survey of all 50 patients admitted to a longstay NHS-funded dementia care unit was carried out. The socio-demographic details along with severity of dementia, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and medication were obtained on all the patients. FINDINGS: All 50 patients were prescribed some form of medication for either physical and/or mental health reasons. Only five (10%) patients were not prescribed any form of psychotropic medication. A lack of non-pharmacological treatment options for the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms was evident in the unit with only one occupational therapist available. CONCLUSION: Effective management of severe behavioural and psychiatric symptoms in dementia is challenging even in a NHS continuing care dementia unit due to the absence of clear benefit from pharmacological interventions and lack of resources for optimum non-pharmacological interventions.
