A Spotlight On... Dementia Awareness

Article | Lewis Cowlishaw, Content Development Manager at Blue Stream Academy

Dementia is one of the most severe and devastating disorders that we face as a society. With Dementia Action Week recently raising awareness of the condition, we are highlighting the need for early diagnosis by taking a look at our Dementia Awareness eLearning module.

Completed by more than 140,000 professionals, our online training module is helping to support health and social care workers throughout the country to understand dementia so they can improve care for the people who need it most. More people are living with dementia today than at any other point in history, yet we have only scratched the surface when it comes to understanding this condition and we are still in search of a cure.

Dementia is one of the main causes of disability later in life, affecting more people than cancer, cardiovascular disease and strokes. But, as a country, we spend far less on dementia than we do on these other conditions.

In years gone by, dementia was thought to be a natural part of ageing, but thanks to research and a growing understanding, people with dementia can now live a longer and more fulfilling life.

• There are more than 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, with numbers expected to reach 1.6 million by 2040.

• One in six people over the age of 80 have dementia.

• Two-thirds of the cost of dementia is paid for by people with dementia and their families.

• There are over 42,000 people under 65 with dementia in the UK.

As with any facts and figures it is important to know how these affect your own area, you can see the prevalence of dementia in your area by checking the map at www.dementiastatistics.org/ statistics/dementia-maps.

Dementia is caused when the brain is damaged by specific diseases, which include Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a set of symptoms, which can include memory loss and difficulties with language, problemsolving and thinking.

Dementia is a progressive disease, which means that symptoms gradually get worse over time. How symptoms develop varies greatly from person to person, but as dementia progresses a person may develop behaviours that are unusual or out of character.

These may include repeatedly asking the same question, restlessness or agitation. This is often challenging for the person and those who are close to them.

Dementia usually begins gradually, with very minor changes in the person’s capabilities or behaviour. Such signs are often mistakenly attributed to stress or bereavement – or, in older people, to the normal process of ageing.

It is often only when looking back that we realise these signs were probably the beginnings of dementia. Although dementia is a life-changing condition, early diagnosis can provide longawaited answers for people about their symptoms and can open the door to future care and treatment.

An early diagnosis can also help families and carers feel better supported. Access to information, services and expert advice becomes possible, enabling people living with dementia and their families to learn about the condition and plan for the future.

Norman ‘Norrms’ McNamara, who is living with dementia, explains the importance of early diagnosis in one of his videos:

Being diagnosed with something like this – and this is going to sound really strange – was probably the best news I ever had at the time, because the simple reason being, I thought I was losing my mind. I thought there was a conspiracy against me. I was right and everybody else was wrong. Early diagnosis is so, so, very important. Since I was diagnosed, I knew what I was up against. As they say: know your enemy. If I hadn’t been diagnosed early and I hadn’t been seen by consultants on a regular basis… I wouldn’t be as well as I am today. I don’t know what my future holds, but at least I’m prepared for it.

- Norman 'Norrms' McNamara

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, but it is far from being the only cause.

GPs and primary healthcare teams are central to enabling people to have conversations about memory problems (which can sometimes be difficult) and facilitating early diagnosis. However, dementia presents a challenge to primary care practitioners because of its ever-increasing prevalence and its progressive nature.

Barriers to earlier diagnosis still exist in primary care. These include:

• A fear of stigma around the diagnosis

• Diagnostic uncertainty

• Perceived lack of post-diagnosis treatment and support

• Significant time constraints

• Financial constraints.

Carers report a lack of information about the support that is available, and this leads to lower confidence and higher rates of crisis interventions or care-home placements, both of which come at a high cost – both financially and for the wellbeing of people with dementia.

Avoiding identifying certain things as signs of dementia is a key factor that prevents people seeking help and then getting the treatment and support they need at an early stage.

Doctors use several strategies to diagnose dementia. It’s important that they rule out any treatable conditions, such as depression, normal pressure hydrocephalus, or vitamin B12 deficiency, which can cause similar symptoms.

When someone might have dementia, doctors often begin their examination by asking questions about the person’s history. For example, they may ask how and when symptoms developed and about the person’s overall medical condition. They also may try to evaluate the person’s emotional state, although people with dementia can often be unaware of (or in denial about) how their disease is affecting them. Family members also may deny the existence of the disease, because they do not want to accept the diagnosis and, at least in the beginning, because Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia can resemble normal ageing. Therefore, more steps need to be taken to confirm or rule out a diagnosis of dementia.

It is very hard sometimes for people to accept they have got dementia because of the stigma with it and connected to it. But if you had a pain in your back or in your chest, or a throb in your legs or your feet and you didn’t know what it was, you would go to a doctor. Yet, with dementia, people seem to shy away from it. But knowing what’s wrong with you is so important. You can’t hide away from it.

- Norman ‘Norrms’ McNamara

All this information and more can be found in our Dementia Awareness training module. For more information about Dementia Awareness or any other module from our extensive library, please get in touch with one of the team at info@bluestreamacademy.com

Lewis Cowlishaw

Content Development Manager at Blue Stream Academy

Lewis Cowlishaw oversees the research, writing and development of our eLearning content while coordinating with subject matter experts from across the UK.

“Our enthusiastic in-house development team ensures that we stay on top of the latest developments,” says Lewis. “The key to success at BSA is about being on the pulse of the health and care sector, and having a devoted following of passionate users certainly helps too.”