Hospital looks for public backing over dementia diagnosis

YEOVIL DistrictHospital is asking local people to take on board a new campaign which aims to increase early diagnosis rates for dementia.

Nearly 700,000 people in England live with dementia but this number is expected to double in the next 30 years. YeovilDistrictHospital already has a significant number of older patients with this condition, with many beds occupied by the over 85s.

The A Day to Remember campaign encourages people to have that first ‘difficult conversation’ with a friend or family member when they spot the signs and symptoms of dementia, and encourage them to visit their GP.

New research shows that 55% of people in the South West say they would find it hard to talk about dementia to a friend or family member they thought might have it, higher than the national average of 50% and that nearly two-thirds of people would not be confident telling the difference between the signs of dementia and the normal signs of ageing.

The three-month national campaign, launched on World Alzheimer’s Day, will raise awareness of the condition, what initial signs and symptoms look like and how to seek help. Advice on how to have difficult conversations about the condition will also be available.

Initial signs and symptoms of the condition, which is caused by diseases including Alzheimer’s Disease, may include short-term memory loss that affects daily life, unexplained anxiety or depression and problems thinking or reasoning, such as finding it hard to follow conversations or television.

Just over two fifths of those living with dementia (42 per cent) in England receive a formal diagnosis, which means that many thousands of people with the condition go without the medical or emotional support that could help to slow its progress, or to help them to live well with dementia.

To help family members and others to start talking about the condition with their loved ones, the Alzheimer’s Society have issued advice on how to have difficult conversations at www.alzheimers.org.uk/toptips.

YeovilDistrictHospital has recognised the problems patients with dementia have and has introduced a number of measures to give them extra support.

Director of Nursing, Helen Ryan said: “With no short term memory an unfamiliar hospital environment can be a very frightening place. Ensuring that dementia patients and their carers receive a high quality service is one of our key priorities and staff across the hospital have been involved in a range of initiatives.”

One of YeovilDistrictHospital’s projects has resulted in the Patients’ Association linking up with Carers UK to rollout of carers awareness training sessions to nurses, doctors, therapists and housekeeping staff. The training was featured at the South of England Nursing Conference and is being rolled out in other hospitals across the region.

To help patients feel more at ease the Trust has a team of volunteers who are dementia befrienders and are on hand to talk to, reassure and support confused patients. The hospital has also implemented a ‘wandering patients’ policy which sets out to ensure that patients who may have either delirium or dementia can wander safely rather than become more frightened or confused if they are forced to stay in their bed area.

YeovilDistrictHospital is now seeking funding to re-design one of the wards to provide a more welcoming environment for dementia patients. Any business or trust fund which is willing to sponsor this is asked to contact Helen.Ryan@ydh.nhs.uk.

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