Abstracts by key term: dementia
More than 700,000 people already live in nursing homes; The use of inpatient care continues to increase. The few surveys about medical care in inpatient care facilities show a consistent picture. Due to the limited mobility of the residents, specialist medical care is very unsatisfactory; As a result, there are deficits in diagnostics and therapy. This is particularly true for people with dementia. In nursing homes, the rate of people suffering from dementia is around 65 %. Nevertheless, only a minority receive neurological/psychiatric care. The supply of anti-dementia drugs is inadequate. The low level of medical performance has several causes and does not correspond to society's aging image; It is also questionable from a health economic point of view. Several surveys and studies show, for example, the reduced care and nursing costs with simultaneous therapy with anti-dementia drugs (“Memantine”).
01.10.2009
Aging in familiar surroundings is a great need for most people. The transition to a residential care facility, on the other hand, is often experienced as very stressful and is associated with considerable financial costs for those affected, their relatives and social security systems. If people develop dementia, one in two people move permanently into a residential care facility within the first three years of the onset of the illness. Whether and when a move to a residential facility is carried out depends on numerous characteristics of those affected, their relatives and external conditions. For a German sample of older people with incident dementia, the absence of a spouse in particular was identified as a strong risk factor for a shorter time before moving to a residential facility. In addition to identifying further - possibly modifiable - factors influencing the institutionalization rates and times of dementia sufferers, the aim of future research efforts should also be the development of target group-specific interventions for certain risk groups in order to - if sensible - ensure longer or optimal care for dementia patients in the home environment to be able to move into a home facility at the right time.