1. Understand what dementia is:
1.1 Explain what is meant by the term “dementia”
Dementia are the signs and symptoms caused as a result of the specific diseases such as Alzheimer’s or a stroke that involve the damaging of brain cells; as the brain cells die the person with a dementia will lose their ability to do things they are used to doing as different parts of the brain are damaged. Dementia affects both older and younger people and the decline in the person will get worse as more brain cells are damaged or die.
1.2 Describe the key functions of the brain that are affected by dementia
- behavior, movement, interpretation of what is around us and personality: frontal lobe;
- language used, special awareness and recognition of places, objects and people: parietal lobe;
- eyesight and ability to see: occipital lobe;
- memory, hearing and speech: temporal lobe.
1.3 Explain why depression, delirium and age-related memory impairment may be mistaken for dementia
Because this are symptoms of dementia but the cause for them to happen can be different:
- for depression: a person can be depressed but not suffer for dementia;
- for delirium: it can be caused by an infection and the person could become confused and suffer with memory loss which are also signs and symptoms of dementia;
- for age-related memory impairment: if someone becomes forgetful they might think or others might think they have dementia because a lot of people associate dementia with old age and memory loss but younger people can be affected too.
2. Understand key features of the theoretical models of dementia:
2.1 Outline the medical model of dementia
Dementia has to managed and treated rather than the person.
2.2 Outline the social model of dementia
The focus is on the person, his needs, feelings and wishes rather than...