World Mental Health Day 2014: or...

https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/WMHD

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/world-mental-health-day/world-mental-health-day-2014/

or - World Parity of Esteem Day 2014?

Mental health & Psychology resources
(Links I - Hodges' model)

1 in 3 will be older adults by 2025 in Japan

In June Dr Mayumi Hayashi described Japan's vision of 'total care' for its older population in HSJ. The article that prompts this post follows another with lessons for England.

Referring to a "2025 vision" this forward thinking has its roots in established systems of healthcare set up in 1961 and social care established in 2000 (p.25).

Care integration is not new as a fundamental issue in health and social care. It is for me a career legacy issue. As a student nurse it was discussed and debated, closely allied with multidisciplinary and holistic (joined up physical and mental health) care. Even now 37 years later it will drive many arguments and policy deliberations in the run up to the next election here.

Many nations are faced with stark demographics. As the population ages and works its way through wooden blocks, Rubik cubes, it is the population pyramid that takes on increasing significance.


Dr Hayashi lists the need for inclusion, integration and continuation of four components that are essential to the realisation of this vision:

• maximising the integration of healthcare and social care;
• promoting policies for prevention and outreach together with safeguarding;
• embedding supported living programmes and dementia friendly community initiatives; and
• addressing “late life specific” housing needs.

I have mapped these to Hodges' model below:

individual
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

group

embedding supported living programmes and dementia friendly community initiatives	integration of health and social care
"late life specific" housing needs (integration of health and social care)	promoting policies for prevention and outreach, together with safeguarding

It becomes clear to see in Japan, China and other nations how telecare and smart homes have a role to play. Getting the basics of integrated care resolved firstly is the prerequisite whatever the culture.

Where achieved the integration of health and social care can act as a diagonal brace as it straddles two care domains. Perhaps the model also reflects the ongoing challenges of parity in esteem in mental health care and physical care; and the funding ambiguity for people living with dementia as opposed to other medical conditions?

In January 2014 the FT Weekend magazine also featured an article on ageing in Japan.

Hayashi, M. (2014) Japan's vision of a 'total care' future looks bright, Health Service Journal, 124, 6404, 25-27. 

FT magazine cover image:
https://www.facebook.com/financialtimes/photos/a.10150157857040750.297340.8860325749/10152119294570750/?type=1

Paper: Low-cost strategies to improve dementia care

An interest in health and science invites some thought about chaos, complexity and catastrophe theory. These suggest quite a cold - mechanistic - perspective of reality. So trying to think of clinical and nursing examples beyond fluid dynamics, the heart muscle... to more socially oriented applications demands some creative thinking.

In my work within intermediate support in the community for decades my colleagues and I come across cases were husband, wife, partner have looked their significant other to the nth degree. That degree can include hiding the extent of a person's cognitive problems from other family members. Suddenly there is a real catastrophe as the carer is taken acutely ill and hospitalised.

Left at home soon the dependency is revealed. Trying to negotiate care at home can then be a real challenge.

Alternately, when people living with dementia are hospitalised for physical reasons another host of challenges arise.

I've a relative who works over at Warrington General Hospital and it's great to be able to help highlight a paper written by Michelle Beavan their dementia champion and published in Nursing Times:

Beavan M (2014) Low-cost strategies to improve dementia care. Nursing Times; 110: online issue.

Don't RAID on my Care Domains

individual

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

group

Assessment Person-centred, Holistic, Equality of Esteem in Care, Self-care, Literacies	Rapid Co-ordination, Speed, Synchronization, Length of Stay, Physical access, Systems
Discharge Communities of practice, Resources, After-care, Communications, Education	Interface Policy, Infrastructure, Integration, Choices, Liaison, E-records, Information Sharing

Additional links:

RAPID ASSESSMENT INTERFACE DISCHARGE (RAID) Prof George Tadros

With money in mind: The benefits of liaison psychiatry, MHN

[ Exclusive* preview ] Wrinkles

individual, dignity, person, memories, identity, security, communication, perception, meaning, friends, belonging, mood, orientation ...	demographics, evidence based care, medication, treatments, physical environment ....
	policy, standards, inspection, training, organisation, safety, governance, management culture, leadership ...

Link:
http://www.arrugaslapelicula.com/

*Person centered?

Space Station Robot Forgets Key Again

individual

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

group

Memory: artificial (jokes aside) and real

Just-be? Making sense of the activities of daily living Chunking	Space Station Robot Forgets Key Again
Making sense of someone else's sense of the  activities of daily living	Funding for research (competition!)

group - population

Additional link: The Economist - Rise of the robots 29.3.14
Image source: APOD

Extraordinary lives: Demographic influences on academic studies - Life Writing, Life Story Work

Recent reading for studies at Lancaster included
Ethics of Internet Research: Contesting the Human Subjects Research Model

Beyond a week's focus on ethics the above refers to Life Writing:

The study of Life Writing spans many disciplines, and represents 'a fast changing terrain' which is concerned with the study of the writing of lives, encompassing auto/biography as well as aspects of life story that originate outside the written form, such as oral history, testimony, and artifacts such as photography and the visual arts (Jolly, 2001, p. ix). The written text is viewed as a vehicle for an individual's construction of identity, the personal narrative that it records being

…a fundamental means by which people comprehend their own lives and present a 'self' to their audience. (Borland, 1991, p. 71)
...
The multiple approaches taken in Life Writing research can arguably be attributed to the multidisciplinary background of its practitioners. Like Internet researchers, those researching Life Writing have been trained in a variety of disciplines including anthropology, sociology, history, linguistics and literary theory. These various disciplines have contributed a range of insights into the collection of oral history and analysis of the resultant texts (Gluck and Patai, 1991, p. 3). Ethical guidelines for the conduct of Life Writing researchers, such as those published by the Oral History Society in the UK, appear to follow a human subjects model, focussing on the undertaking of the interview, and restricting discussion of the resultant text to issues of copyright. Yet practitioners emphasise the need to remember that as:

…the typical product of an interview is a text, not a reproduction of reality …models of textuality [are] therefore needed. (Gluck and Patai, 1991, p. 3)

What chance is there that Life Writing will be - is being influenced by current demographic and societal trends? Trends and challenges that inevitably present new meanings for history within life and with this new ethical issues? While life writing is clearly an established discipline, how might it develop and what other challenges might apply?

In health and social care Life Story Work is an important part in of assessment and interventions. Has it been discussed, is it appropriate, completed and if so, is this work available and accessible? Do we need people beyond the existing establishment with a dedicated set of skills and knowledge to engage with people diagnosed early on, or will treatments soon make this less of an issue? Will dementia and early dementia especially, with the latest technology prompt new perspectives, or reinforce existing life writing practices? What is an archive? In life story work these people, persons, individuals (and their lives?) are more than subjects.

There are many overlaps already in the mental health state of past and present national leaders, while health services continue to bridge the dementia gap in diagnosis. Biography: world leaders, other recognised lives in Life Story Work and seeking to preserve personal identities in dementia care: clearly these are figures that count.

Sensing Spaces: Care architecture - memories of choice

Good architecture is often invisible,
but it allows whatever is happening in that space to
be the best experience possible.

Pezo von Ellrichshausen

Good architecture may have something in common with good health; it is something that can be taken for granted. When things go awry and are wrong then architecture and health suddenly impose upon us, a major intrusion.

As I may have mentioned before, in the past I've been asked how I've managed entering such and such care facility for so long. Within health there is recognition of heartsink patients. There are still heartsink buildings too. Not purpose built, seemingly either all narrow dark corridors, interrupted when doors let in shafts of light and assault dignity and privacy; or large 'lounges' that still invite armchairs to be flung against walls.

Architecture like this is not invisible. Walls are walls, blanc, flat and solid. Pictures removed due to safety concerns. Two holes and exposed plaster testify to what? Now, after six months....?

Even for the confused there are few potential found spaces, spaces to sit, stand, be; spaces towards which some personal impetus might have a person gravitate. A space of relative quite, looking out on some-thing relaxing even if not a small garden feature.

"Where's Joan, her friend's here to see her?"

"It's OK, I know where she'll be."

Royal Academy: Sensing Spaces
Education guide



 

End of Life Care: Gold Standards Framework (Heaven's door)

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

individual

PRIMARY CARE	ACUTE CARE
CARE HOMES	DEMENTIA (CARE)

group - population

Looking at a table 'GOLD STANDARDS SET BY BENCHMARK PROGRAMME' (p.23) in Prof. Thomas's HSJ article, I could see an instant fit between the four listed care contexts and the domains of Hodges' model.

There are also many overlaps and of course Hodges' model is an idealised resource. For example,  governance applies across all the above and in that way all can be placed in the POLITICAL domain.

Further points explaining the above includes:

• The GP and primary care seeing the person first not the diagnosis. Again in this sense - respect and dignity we can place all these care specialisms in the INTERPERSONAL. You would hope that primary care 'know' the patient as a person, an individual; or at least through recourse to the primary care record.
• If a care home 'works' it will be able to deliver care almost transparently, it is not a process but a social gathering. It is not the person's home (their home is not something to be forgotten, replaced like their past), but it seeks to emulate this as far as possible. Care is a routine that is also personalised and even at the end of life there is peace, calm and dignity.
• Dementia care is a political challenge, a priority and challenge across all the domains. As in the previous post - what training is provided to Health Care Assistants and other staff? How is the strategy for dementia progressing across all these care environments?

The National Gold Standards Framework Centre in End of Life Care

Thomas, K. (2014) 'End of life care is a litmus test for the whole of the NHS'.  HSJ, 31 January, 124, 6384, 21-23.

Resistence is futile: give in to the obvious need for the 'nhm'

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES
humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic
SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

individual

nhm	ohm + nhm
nhm	nhm (+ ohm!)

group - population

ohm: The ohm (symbol: Ω) is the SI derived unit of electrical resistance, named after German physicist Georg Simon Ohm. (Wikipedia)


nhm: The nhm (symbol: +).

However, the principles do not extend to problems posed by cognitive impairment as a result of the illness and the ever present danger of wandering, seeking old and familiar surroundings, or acting on memories from years gone by. Some patients become aggressive at times; the service must have mechanisms for managing patients effectively in ways that recognise their inherent worth and humanity. The stigma and abbreviated autonomy that is implied in managing people with dementia requires a new holistic method of managing their care that relates the care to the patients'/service users' values. p.80. [my emphasis]

Heginbotham, C. (2012) Values-Based Commissioning of Health and Social Care, Cambridge, CUP. (Review to follow).

ESRC PhD North West Doctoral Training Centre (NWDTC) CASE Studentships 2014: The spatial and social dynamics of public inclusion for people with dementia & Masters HI Sweden

The Faculty of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University offers an exciting opportunity for an ESRC funded +3 collaborative studentship for PhD research: The spatial and social dynamics of public inclusion for people with dementia

Suitably qualified candidates are invited to apply for this fully-funded three-year PhD CASE studentship which is a collaboration between the Centre for Ageing Research, at Lancaster University, and AgeUK Lancashire. The studentship covers full fees plus a Basic Maintenance Grant (£14,421 p.a.). The student will receive a small contribution for research costs.

The CASE studentship will draw on innovative participatory mixed methods to assess the impact of a range of dementia friendly community initiatives to explore how people with dementia experience social and spatial inclusion, across personal and public spaces. The research offers an opportunity to engage with important policy initiatives and how they impact upon people’s lives. The successful applicant will also benefit from the work placement opportunity within AgeUK Lancashire.

The studentship will be supervised by a team lead by Dr Katherine Froggatt and Professor Christine Milligan at Lancaster University and Mrs Diane Armstrong, Dementia Support Coordinator at AgeUK Lancashire.

Eligible candidates will be UK/EU honours graduate students with a good 2.1 from a recognised University, who show evidence of exceptional ability; they must have completed research methods training as part of an ESRC recognised Masters (or demonstrate research training to an equivalent standard) in a relevant health and social sciences discipline. Students who are currently undertaking a Masters degree (or equivalent) and are expecting to graduate during the 2013-14 academic session are also eligible to apply. Candidates should demonstrate a committed interest and experience in the field of dementia ageing research, preferably in community contexts.

Candidates must satisfy the ESRC's academic and residential eligibility requirements and be UK or EU citizens who have been resident in the UK for three years. Further information on eligibility can be downloaded from the ESRC web site:
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/esrccontent/postgradfunding/foindex.asp

For further information contact Dr Katherine Froggatt: k.froggatt AT lancaster.ac.uk

To apply please submit the following documents electronically, by 5.00pm Thursday February 13th 2014, to Dr Katherine Froggatt: k.froggatt AT lancaster.ac.uk with ‘ESRC CASE studentship’ in the subject line:

• An up-to-date CV: including two named referees (one of whom should be your most recent academic tutor/supervisor); the applicant will be expected to have approached their referees to arrange for references (including anticipated grade if Masters is ongoing) in advance of shortlisting.
• A letter of application (not exceeding 2 pages) outlining your suitability for the CASE studentship and how you would anticipate approaching the research.
• A copy of your first degree and Master’s degree transcripts.

Shortlisted candidates should be available for interview on February 21^st 2014

PLUS from LinkedIn

On 01/06/14 1:53 PM, Sabine Koch wrote:
--------------------
In case you know somebody interested in advanced studies in HI please forward this message.
Thanks,
Sabine
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interested in a two year Master Programme in health informatics at Karolinska Institutet/Stockholm University in Sweden?

Apply online latest January 15th at universityadmissions.se

https://www.universityadmissions.se/intl/search?period=HT_2014&publishers=ki&freeText=Joint+Master%27s+Programme+in+Health+Informatics&courseProgram=programs&level=advanced 

... 11.12.13 . ... time to deliberate upon Dementia ... G(r)8

@dhgovuk

#G8dementia

News update: 11.12.13 posted 2024hrs UT 
BBC News G8 'will develop dementia cure or treatment by 2025'

See also:
Department of Health, 29 November 2013, England
Dementia: A state of the nation report on dementia care and support in England

Site: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dementia-care-and-support

Above banner source acknowledged and with thanks:
http://dementiachallenge.dh.gov.uk/category/g8-dementia-summit/

(other) for-getting(s)

HUMANISTIC -------------------- MECHANISTIC

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

individual

the premiers  the presidents  forgot not so much themselves, but the peoples, the respective histories  they represented and carried,  the weight of history - the threats, the acts of terror. there they were: two psyches - one hand shake.  the wait of history re-purposed, refactored, re-minded	the young girl was late for her interview, she didn't notice  the metal bench, the glass door,  she ran through them and took flight...
the marriage guidance counsellors were totally perplexed as couples seemingly ripped up their years-long, decade-long  'scripts'  there were no scraps to be waved either and pointed  @youthis! @youthat! the room for an argument disappeared. the dialogue and the future was suddenly bright a weapon of mass construction	within all governments long term planning 10, 20, 30... years took hold - the effects, no! the impacts: were local, global and glocal and this was just the beginning... tax was paid by all, whether individual or corporate entity, the only loops were off-world...

group - population

TEDMED Great Challenges Google+ Hangout: Unraveling Dementia 31st Oct

Unraveling Dementia: The Race to Find Answers

Thursday, October 31st, 2PM EDT

Recent advances in research are describing more of what we need to know to prevent or treat Alzheimer's and dementia. Projects like the BRAIN Initiative, described at TEDMED 2013 by Dr. Rafael Yuste, and new medication discoveries, drive our opportunities to best understand dementia and imagine a future without it. Join our online conversation to talk about the latest breakthroughs in dementia, including research that has identified early lifestyle changes you can make to reduce your risk. 

 

Tweet questions and comments to #GreatChallenges and we’ll address them on air.  Join Us!

http://tedmed.com/greatchallenges?ref=live-events

'Pictures to Share' book titles for people with later stage dementia

Hi

I am contacting you as one of our LinkedIn colleagues working in the field of dementia. One of our 'Pictures to Share' book titles for people with later stage dementia has been shortlisted for the UK 'People's Book Prize'

By winning this award we can help to to raise awareness of the needs of people with dementia, so it would be great if you could take a look at the People's Book Prize website, and consider voting for our book 'Proverbs and Sayings'.

The link is below:

http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/book.php?id=982

Many thanks for your help

Helen Bate and Michelle Forster
http://www.picturestoshare.co.uk/

[I will register and vote Michelle - good luck PJ ]

Research Design Service North West (RDS NW) September 2013 e-bulletin

A very useful resource:

Dear Colleague,

Please follow the link below to the September 2013 e-bulletin from the Research Design Service North West (RDS NW).

http://www.rds-nw.nihr.ac.uk/news-training-events/

In this issue:

• is my study research?
• NIHR showcases the clinical research that could bring hope to the nation’s dementia sufferers
• funding opportunities
• events and training
• approaching funding deadlines.

We hope you find this helpful and as always welcome any feedback.

Thanks,

RDS NW

Research Design Service North West

Central Coordinating Office

Tel: +44 (0) 1524 593209

Follow the Research Design Service on Twitter: @NIHR_RDS

Source: Thanks to RDS NW and Paul Dolby

5th UK Swallowing Research Group Conference 2014

Swallowing tends to be something we take for granted, working in mental health it is a long time since I had to deal with nasogastric (Ryles) tubes. Choking is a very unpleasant experience to say the least. Should we witness someone choking we recognise the need to assess the situation quickly and assist. The alarm felt by onlookers is palpable.

Swallowing, is an element in our assessments of people and their carers who are living with dementia and possibly the effects of a stroke. Is the person experiencing dysphagia, or at risk? This is also part of the NHS continuing healthcare and NHS funded nursing care assessments. I learned about the UKSRG this weekend and was informed about their conference:

The UK Swallowing Research Group [UKSRG] comprises clinicians and researchers from a wide range of professional disciplines including biomedical engineering, speech and language therapy, radiography, radiology, ENT, gastroenterology, stroke medicine, dietetics, oral health, general medicine and neurology.

The group recognizes the multidisciplinarity of the clinical specialties and basic science that supports developments in the field and runs a biannual conference:

UKSRG will be hosting the fifth UKSRG Conference on 6th and 7th February 2014 at Institute of Child Health in London.
Thanks to: David Smithard, Visiting Reader at University of Kent

ERCIM News No. 94 Special theme: "Intelligent Cars" (memory and driving - PJ)

Dear ERCIM News Reader,

ERCIM News No. 94 has just been published at
http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/en94

Special Theme: "Intelligent Cars"
Guest editors: Jaroslav Machan (ŠKODA AUTO a.s., Czech Republic) and Christian Laugier (Inria, France)
http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/en94/special/


Keynote: "Collaborative Mobility – Beyond Communicating Vehicles"
by Ilja Radusch, Ilja Radusch, head of department “Automotive Services and Communication Technologies” at Fraunhofer FOKUS and head of the Daimler Center for Automotive IT Innovations

This issue for download
pdf: http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/images/stories/EN94/EN94-web.pdf
epub format: http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/images/stories/EN94/EN94.epub

Next issue: No. 95, October 2013 - Special Theme: "Image Understanding" (see Call at http://ercim-news.ercim.eu/call)

Thank you for your interest in ERCIM News.
Feel free to forward this message to others who might be interested.

Peter Kunz
ERCIM News central editor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
About ERCIM
ERCIM - the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics - aims to foster collaborative work within the European research community and to increase co-operation with European industry. Leading European research institutes are members of ERCIM. ERCIM is the European host of W3C.
http://www.ercim.eu/

<>

Each issue of ERCIM NEWS is a gift and for me it does not have to be a special theme that speaks directly to the health care, informatics or education communities. I have followed this publication and posted on W2tQ about many fascinating new issues. I'm sure it is over a decade ago since I also subscribed to Technicity, a magazine from Daimler. I bring the two publications together for two reasons (not due to sponsorship - how I wish):

Firstly, this is such a difficult time socio-economically in the EU, evinced in the proportions of younger adults who are unemployed. Publications like this show the opportunities for young people who aspire, but to do so they need the support and opportunities. Safety, design, materials science, energy systems and storage, city transport infrastructure and planning, security, nanotechnology, communications, vehicular informatics ... the possibilities for youths are amazing. In turn, however we need to recognize and respond to the employment potential of those whose path is not primarily academic and research based.

Secondly, in community mental health nursing services for older adults we often come across people who are still driving when their competency is most likely compromised. They should report an admission to hospital, prescribed medication or a specific diagnosis to the DVLA. ERCIM and Technicity both presage the arrival of autonomous vehicles. At present of course an 'intelligent car' depends on the intelligence of the driver. Which is why we get so annoyed when someone drives like an *^%$£!

Driving is a great responsibility and privilege. It is central to who we are, how we define ourselves, our independence, sustaining real social networks and - in my case livelihood. I recognised decades ago there will come a time to hand over the keys. Doing so gracefully, informed by insight and self-awareness is the trick. I don't envy family doctors who have to deal with this when a patient  insists that they are safe behind the wheel. Sometimes we are ageist, hoping that a meeting with their doctor of some 20-30 years might carry some gravitas that their generation will still respond to. Add to this though that the person concerned is not always elderly. It can be very difficult for the driver (person, patient) concerned and their families too. Amid all this, as a community nurse you are trying to establish trust, empathy and rapport. Each time this issue is encountered: it is novel.

I don't want to suggest that suddenly the person behind the wheel is 'unintelligent', far from it. Evidence shows that a diagnosis of dementia does not immediately mean surrender of a driver's license. Behind dementia, however lie altered faculties that add up to more than synonyms: cognitive impairment, impaired perception, recall, and decision making, reduced concentration and attention. I thought there might be something in this issue of ERCIM related to dementia; monitoring the physiological state of the driver, reactions, attention, stress levels, eye movement. Is there a signature for health in driving behaviours?

Unlike other methods of detecting tiredness, the Mercedes-Benz system evaluates a series of indicators in order to assess the alertness of the driver and to recognise the gradual transition between being awake and being tired. AME.info

Our sense of being, of personhood is heightened by movement. When do we feel most alive? What is the most important factor in health and well-being? There are moments when we are stationary and time passes us by. There are other occasions when we move through time. We literally project our ego through time. We enjoy sharing with friends where will be in the future and when we can also suspend time. Cars and air travel extend these abilities, AND mobilities.

The danger is when we pass through not only time but distance at speed without a reliable sense of judgement, without a wholly coherent sense of self and responsibility.

In the not too distant future all this of course could lead us to a new definition of self-care at least in this context?

"Self-care - put your trust in a self-driving vehicle"

 SOME PAPERS via Athens: (other suggestions welcome)

Title: Driving and dementia: what nurses need to know.

Citation: Journal of Gerontological Nursing, Aug 2011, vol. 37, no. 8, p. 10-13, 0098-9134 (August 2011)

Author(s): Flanagan, Nina M.

Source: BNI

---

Title: Driving with dementia.

Citation: Nursing in the Community, Jan 2005, vol. 6, no. 1, p. 27., 1649-0657 (Jan-Feb 2005)

Source: BNI

---

Title: Transitions in dementia care: theoretical support for nursing roles.

Citation: Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, May 2012, vol. 17, no. 2, p. 14 unnumbered pages, 1091-3734 (May 2012)

Author(s): Rose, Karen M*, Lopez, Ruth Palan

Source: BNI

---

Title: Dementia and driving: screening, assessment and advice.

Citation: Lancet, Oct 1996, vol. 348, no. 9035, p. 1114., 0140-6736 (October 26, 1996)

Author(s): O'Neill, D

Source: BNI

---

Title: Imposed versus involved: different strategies to effect driving cessation in cognitively impaired older adults.

Citation: Geriatric Nursing, Mar 2005, vol. 26, no. 2, p. 111-116, 0197-4572 (Mar-Apr 2005)

Author(s): Jett, K, Tappen, R, Rosselli, M

Source: BNI

---

Title: A prospective study of cognitive tests to predict performance on a standardised road test in people with dementia.

Citation: International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, May 2010, vol. 25, no. 5, p. 489-496, 0885-6230 (May 2010)

Author(s): Lincoln, N, Taylor, J, Vella, K

Source: BNI

---

Title: Effects of Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment on driving ability: a controlled clinical study by simulated driving test.

Citation: International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 01 March 2009, vol./is. 24/3(232-238), 08856230

Author(s): Frittelli C, Borghetti D, Iudice G, Bonanni E, Maestri M, Tognoni G, Pasquali L, Iudice A

Source: CINAHL

---

Title: A community based survey of cognitive functioning, highway-code performance and traffic accidents in a cohort of older drivers.

Citation: International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 01 March 2009, vol./is. 24/3(247-253), 08856230

Author(s): Ingley S, Chinnaswamy S, Devakumar M, Bell D, Tranter R

Source: CINAHL

Additional links:
Alzheimer’s Society - Driving and dementia
DVLA, UK Guide to the current medical standards of fitness to drive
The University of Nottingham - Predicting fitness to drive speed = (total distance traveled)/(total time taken)

Living in the Memory Room: BBC Radio 4

Some people have no choice - they must become time travellers ....

There are 800,000 dementia sufferers in the UK. Kim Normanton presents a personal programme about memory and dementia, inspired by her mother's illness. She explores a new approach to treatment - recreating the past.

As her mother's memory of recent events was destroyed ... more

Walking the line of signs of movement in fresh air ...

P Being mobile and active is one
H of the most important
Y factors in longevity
S and quality of life.
I  A model of activity in residential
C and nursing home care should be a right.
O I often enquire about
-
P the possibility of residents who
O tend to become
L agitated at a certain time of
I of the day, to be taken, or assisted to
T have a walk, or at least
I  feel the fresh
C air on their faces.
A This can make a real
L difference, as Nature's natural sedative.

Prompted by a question posed by Jackie Pool on LinkedIn:
Supporting individuals through activity - a positive role for carers?

Jackie's description of an everyday indoor activity being used to promote movement and mobility flags a real issue. Access to the outdoors is still very difficult for many residents on units that are located upstairs.

Residential homes should (must) have sufficient staff to facilitate a full range of activities. This month in the Northern hemisphere it is summer: outside.

In terms of taking people out, staff often look at me and I them, as together we acknowledge the constraints that frequently operate. I've walked outside with residents myself a great opportunity to assess and engage. Staff know the benefits of movement and activity. This helps us all to get out-side of our-selves. The gift it that this diversion of sun and air (and rain) can reach through confusion and agitation, even if only for a short period of time. Hence it can be acutely frustrating when this basic need can not be fulfilled. Holding on to life's essential repertoire is vital.