Alzheimer's group launches care recommendations

PR NEWSWIRE-The Alzheimer's Association recently released new dementia care practice recommendations aimed at helping nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, and other long-term care and community care providers deliver optimal, person-centered care to those living with Alzheimer's and other dementias.

The Alzheimer's Association 2018 Dementia Care Practice Recommendations outline 56 recommendations across 10 content areas grounded in the fundamentals of person-centered care. They were developed by 27 dementia care experts convened by the Alzheimer's Association and are based on a comprehensive review of current evidence, best practice, and expert opinion.

"Detection and diagnosis and medical management are critical, vital areas of care. While clinicians must continue to take a lead role in these areas, there are important contributions dementia care providers can make to improve outcomes in these areas," says Sam Fazio, lead author and director of quality care and psychosocial research for the Alzheimer's Association.

"Our recommendations outline appropriate actions dementia care providers can make to complement and enhance the work clinicians are doing. Having both groups focus on these critical areas will result in better care for people struggling with this disease," Fazio says.

Other areas covered by the recommendations include:

"Fundamentals of person-centered care.

'Assessment and care planning.

*Information, education, and support.

*Ongoing care for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

*Support of activities in daily living.

*Staffing.

*Supportive and therapeutic environments.

*Transitions and coordination of services.

The recommendations were published as a supplement to the February issue of the journal The Gerontologist, and they're posted on the association's website.

The 56 recommendations are detailed in 10 area-specific articles published in the February supplement. In addition to providing greater details about each recommendation, the articles provide evidence and expert opinion supporting each recommendation.

While updating and enhancing previous recommendations in areas familiar to the dementia care community, the recommendations break important new ground. Most notably, the recommendations offer guidance to community-based and residential care providers on detection and diagnosis and ongoing medical managementactions typically reserved for clinicians. Recommendations in these two areas are written specifically for nonphysician care providers and address what these providers can do to help with these important aspects of holistic, person-centered dementia care.

The recommendations seek to define quality care better across all care settings and throughout the disease course. They're intended for professional care providers who work with individuals living with dementia and their families in long-term and community-based care settings.

"Since its inception, the Alzheimer's Association has been a leader in outlining principles and practices of quality care for individuals living with dementia," Fazio says. "These recommendations reflect the most current research and best practices to help ensure high-quality, person-centered care for people living with Alzheimer's in longterm and community-based settings."

It's estimated that nearly 60 percent of older adults with Alzheimer's or other dementias reside in the community, outside of hospital or clinical settings. About 25 percent of these individuals live alone, but the remainder receives care from family members, unpaid caregivers, and community-based and residential care providers.

By age 80, 75 percent of people with Alzheimer's dementia are admitted to a nursing home. The new recommendations are aimed at guiding care in such settings.

The Alzheimer's Association shared the recommendations with policymakers and the dementia care community formally during a Capitol Hill event on Feb. 14 with dementia care experts who developed the recommendations providing deeper context and explanations behind the new recommendations.

In conjunction with the recommendations, the Alzheimer's Association has released a separate report that examines quality care through the eyes of people living with the disease. "A Guide to Quality Care from the Perspectives of People Living with Dementia" includes survey data and interviews from individuals living in the early stage of Alzheimer's or other dementias. It offers insights into how those most affected by the disease view quality care and what they want from care providers and caregivers during their difficult journey.