Full text articles and books are available to members of Alzheimer’s Australia NSW by emailing NSW.Library@alzheimers.org.au
Editorial Comment
‘Slow care’ an
ambition worth fighting for – it takes time to deliver good care and that is
the main commodity that healthcare
professionals don’t have. Like the slow food movement the slow care movement
advocates a swing to activities such as life
story work- as it involves active listening, promotes well-being and
connectivity …
email nsw.library@alzheimers.org.au to borrow resources
bfn Michelle
Dementia Services Development Centre (University of Stirling)
Establishes the importance of life story work for people with dementia; argues that everyone can get involved and offers practical ideas and a charter of good practice.
Contents: 1. Life story: a view from the literature -- 2. The experience of doing life story work -- 3. Good practice in doing life story work and compiling life story books -- 4. Getting life story work to happen.
Page 5
Life Story Work with People with Dementia : Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary People
Introducing life story work, a way for people with dementia to connect with their relatives, carers and the professionals working with them. This evidence-based book explains the many benefits of life story work, with practical guidance for introducing it in a variety of settings. The authors show how life story work can empower people with dementia to inform care practitioners and family members what care and support they may need now and in the future, by taking into account their past and their future wishes and aspirations. The book includes practical information on how to get started, ethical considerations such as consent and confidentiality, and considers issues of diversity and how to address them. The voices of practitioners, researchers and family carers sit alongside those of people living with dementia to present a wide-range of perspectives on life story
Introducing life story work, a way for people with dementia to connect with their relatives, carers and the professionals working with them. This evidence-based book explains the many benefits of life story work, with practical guidance for introducing it in a variety of settings. The authors show how life story work can empower people with dementia to inform care practitioners and family members what care and support they may need now and in the future, by taking into account their past and their future wishes and aspirations. The book includes practical information on how to get started, ethical considerations such as consent and confidentiality, and considers issues of diversity and how to address them. The voices of practitioners, researchers and family carers sit alongside those of people living with dementia to present a wide-range of perspectives on life story
The handbook of structured life review
Clear and concise, The Handbook of Structured Life Review synthesizes 30 years of research and practice using the Structured Life Review process. Structured Life Review is a one-on-one therapeutic technique that guides people in reflecting on their lives from early childhood to the present. This approach allows individuals to learn from past experiences, settle unresolved issues, and ultimately achieve a state of life acceptance. Participants benefit from increased life satisfaction, reduced depression, and the opportunity for reconciliation, acceptance, and serenity. Following this user-friendly handbook, Structured Life Review sessions can be easily led by professionals and non-professionals alike: social workers, counselors, activity staff, or even volunteers. The book thoroughly explains the role of the Therapeutic Listener and describes useful counseling and communication techniques. Step-by-step goals, instructions, and sample dialogue for eight separate sessions provide a blueprint for conducting life reviews. Handy appendices include assessment tools and a Life Review Form with recommended questions for each session. Structured Life Review is appropriate for people of all ages, including older adults in senior centers, assisted living facilities, skilled nursing centers, and home settings. The approach is especially beneficial for individuals experiencing stress, undergoing major change, or coping with grief or a traumatic event. Additionally, Structured Life Review not only fulfils current requirements for meaningful activities but meets the criteria for short-term therapy covered by Medicare and other insurance providers.
Writing life histories : a guide for use in caring environments
by Robin Dynes
Writing Life Histories is a practical handbook which gives clear guidance on how to put together life histories in supportive or residential settings. It provides: Step-by-step guidance. Ideas for different types of life histories. Activities, strategies and material for prompting memories. Helpful tools and writing tips. Suggestions for support and forming partnerships with other local services. Ideas for involving the person s family and friends. Discussion on ethical issues to be considered. The benefits of engaging a group or an individual in life history activities include an aid to memory; creative stimulation; a personalised identity when in a residential home; promotion of interaction and co-operation with others; continuity with previous life experience thus combating loss of identity as well as an excellent opportunity to pass on knowledge and experience to others. For staff knowing about past experiences will promote an understanding of behaviour, needs and outlook on life resulting in more personalised care. Staff have references for conversation with cognitive impaired individuals and knowledge about life accomplishments which promotes respect for individuals.
Changed priorities
for a new dementia strategy
Key points :
·
promising cures are often reported in the media
but their consistent failure does not make big news headlines
·
social support offers more benefit than medical
treatments do
·
current state of knowledge suggests that
prevention/risk reduction will yield the most benefit
·
placing dementia on a war footing metaphor may be the wrong
metaphor
·
person-centred approaches to people living with
dementia and their carers are also helpful to people with other complex problems such as frailty
Positive spin : the
benefits cycling brings
Cycling is fun and taps into procedural memory which can
remain remarkably unaffected in people with cognitive impairments – benefits
include inclusivity and validation …p14
Smart technology to
monitor health and wellbeing
They may be in homes or around necks – they can yield round
the clock information
..p 18
Immersive learning leads to being inspired and energised
Looks at a pilot program in five hospitals - - 3 different
learning sets included … p 20
Life story work in
dementia care – a new road map
Uses the 5 Ps -
principles – purpose - process - product – PERSON.
P 22
What is the truth?
Dilemmas when 2 realities meet
Should we always tell the truth to people with dementia – by
graham Stokes …
Looks at a continuum
|
Ill-being
|
truth
|
Well-being
|
|
|
Truth-telling causes unnecessary distress
|
Truth-telling creates happiness or necessary negative emotions
|
||
|
Untruths cause unnecessary distress
|
Untruth create
Happiness
|
||
|
Lie
|
|||
Need to take a
flexible, tailored approach – person first, strategy second
bfn Michelle
The vital importance
of oral health in demenita care
Poor oral health I soften associated with dementia – but skilled
professional interventions can break the link.
Dementia and the mouth – the range, speed and co-ordination
of mouth and tongue movements lead to
problems
Practical tools – eg brushing teeth twice a day…
bfn Michelle
Dental Rescue: A Guide for Carers of the Elderly
is an educational dental drama that will amuse, motivate and educate. An ideal tool for orientating professional and non-professional carers in oral health practices, it will develop skills in dental hygiene and denture care; identify how to prevent dental problems occurring; teach management strategies for residents with challenging behaviours; address occupational health and safety issues; and give an appreciation of how oral health affects well being. Dental Rescue: A Guide for Carers of the Elderly is captioned for deaf and hard of hearing audiences.
Key learning goals include developing skills in dental hygiene and denture care; identifying how to prevent dental probelms occuring; managing challenging behaviours; appreciating how oral health affects wellbeing and addressing occupational health and safety issues.
Younger onset
dementia and the benefits of employment
Carers/FamiliesResearch
Loss of a job can bring loss of purpose and self-esteem in
its wake. Jacqueline Chang and colleagues found that work-based interventions
can have important benefits for people with young onset dementia and argue it
should be the strategy of choice for services
Vol 25 No 2 Page 30
·
Includes a systematic review
·
The impact on Personhood
·
Employment based interventions –includes different
types of interventions
Spouse carers: the
importance of motivation
Family carers are a crucial resource in the care and support
of people with dementia, but their motivations for caring can make the
difference between success and failure. William Tai discusses his study of
support workers’ views on the way motivations can change and undermine carers’
health
Key points
·
Importance of carers’ motivations plays an
important role
·
Informal family carers save vast amounts of government money
·
The experience of caring for a spouse or loved
one with dementia is unique
·
There has been little research exploring the
motivations for family care giving in
the advanced stages of dementia
·
Support workers interviewed for this study
suggested that family carers start out with ‘intrinsic ’ motivations – such as ‘I
care because I love my spouse’ and then move to a more ‘extrinsic’ view eg ‘I care because I don’t want to be judged
by others’
·
Extrinsic motivations may take over from
intrinsic motivations due to the cumulative impact of the condition
·
The dominating presence of the extrinsic motivations
may hinder the prospect of continued caring by family and also due to poorer
carer health as an impact of the role
·
Anticipating and targeting motivations, emphasising
and reinforcing any intrinsic ones and through talk based modalities may have a
role in the help we offer spouses
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