Dementia Care
As people get older, they tend to find that memory loss starts to become a problem. It's normal for memory loss to be affected by a number of factors including; age, stress, tiredness or certain illnesses and medication. This can be frustrating if it happens occasionally, but if its starts affecting your daily life or is giving you or someone you know cause for concern, then you should seek help from your GP.
Currently in the UK there are around 800,000 people living with dementia and as people are living longer it is anticipated that the number of cases will significantly rise over the next decade.
What is dementia?
Dementia is a syndrome (a group of related symptoms) associated with an ongoing decline of the brain and its functions. Besides memory loss, other notable symptoms could include:
- increasing difficulty with tasks and activities that require concentration and planning
- depression
- changes in personality and mood
- periods of mental confusion
- difficulty in finding the right words
Dementia cannot be cured, but if its detected early enough there are ways you can slow its progress down to help maintain mental function.
Why is it important to get a diagnosis?
An early diagnosis can help people with dementia get the right level of treatment, care and support, enabling them to lead full and active lives. It also assists people close to them to plan and prepare for the future.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, building on the achievements of the existing National Dementia Strategy has set an ambitious programme to deliver improvements in dementia care and research by 2015.
As part of this the GP Practice in conjunction with Lancashire Care Foundation Trust will be delivering a Diagnosis Gap Project working to identify patients that are at likelihood of dementia..
Any patients identified during this project as a higher likelihood for dementia may be contacted by Lancashire Care Foundation Trust.
You have a choice. If you would like to opt out of this project, please inform the GP Practice and your records will not be collected for use in the project. This will not affect your care in any way and you will not be identified in any published results, If you have no objections you do not need to do anything.
If at any time you would like to know more, or have concerns about how we use your information, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01254 964640
If you would like any further information relating to Dementia symptoms or concerns, then please click the link below:
Become a Dementia Friend
Dementia Friends is about giving more people an understanding of dementia and the small things that could make a difference to people living in their community.
For more information : www.dementiafriends.org.uk