Massage and music therapy are more effective than sedatives at calming people with dementia according to a study by authors from the University of Toronto who believe it is time to move away from drugs. If patients become aggressive or agitated it is more humane and more patient centred to use non-medical treatments.  A hand massage for just 5-10 minutes can calm a person down.  Also music can be used, for example giving a person a headset with their favourite type, this could be as diverse as jazz or classic rock!  In Britain the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that carers first try to deal with upset patients with non-drug therapy such as massage, exercise or aromatherapy.

Mark Booker owner of Independent Living commented “the use of alternative techniques does seem a great way forward, it is perhaps more time consuming and labour intensive but surely it gives older people a better quality of life.”  In the home care sectors where people have one-to-one care we do try to find activities which interest people with dementia, this may be cooking, gardening, puzzles etc

A simple blood test can detect the onset of dementia according to scientists in America.  The test could speed up diagnosis, and then it is hoped interventions can help at an earlier stage.  At present there is no effective treatment for an illness which will affect 600,000 Britons by 2025.  The test has 90% accuracy in spotting any toxins in the brain which are an early indication of the disease.  The current thinking is that because clinical drugs trials have failed to work it maybe the solution is to try and intervene at a much earlier stage before obvious symptoms emerge.  Currently brain scans are used (known as Pet scans) but these are time consuming and expensive.

Owner of Independent Living commented “caring for people with dementia is an area where we are seeing an explosion of need.  As more people start to live into their late 80s and early 90s it is inevitable that memory issues amongst our customers are growing.  Providing care and support for people with mild/medium dementia in their own home is growing.  People with severe dementia often need to be in a specialist care facility.”

If you spend time with friends when you are 60 your are less likely to develop dementia.  Scientists believe that the onset of dementia can be delayed through friendship and social activity.  An alternative view is that people who have started with dementia start to become less sociable.  It is argued that people who socialise more are using their cognitive skills such as language and memory so this helps to build up resilience.  It is estimated that 7% of people aged over 65 have dementia .

However, even more generally loneliness and isolation is a real issue for older people in the UK.  What is also being found is that what is good for the heart is good for the brain – i.e. good diet, exercise, no smoking.  Age UK urges us in today’s busy world we should also take a moment to be a friendly face, stop for a chat, and make a difference to the lives of those around us.

Independent Living Owner (Mark Booker) states “we care for people in their own homes and can find in the modern world older people are often isolated.  They may have lost their partner, stopped driving, seen close friends pass away and relatives may not live locally.  This means older people can spend time alone.  Whilst we offer care in Chorley and Leyland it is becoming increasingly clear to us that many of our customers want social interaction from us and this is a growing service.”

Experts have described dementia as the biggest health crisis of our time as 1 in 8 people now die from the disease.  For women the rate was significantly higher causing 16.7 deaths per 1,000.  In people aged over 80 it is 23.6 per 1,000.  Celebrity Barbara Windsor who suffers from the disease backing the Alzheimers Society request for £2.4 million of funding.  It is believed one person every 3 minutes gets diagnosed and many of these people will face the future without adequate support.

Independent Living Owner (Mark Booker) commented “we now have an ageing population and it is inevitable that diseases and issues relating to older people will rapidly increase.  On the positive side we are now recognising the situation but at the present time we are not finding solutions to support these people and their families, and we are certainly not investing enough in areas such as social care to help them.  A major stumbling block is no one can decide the best way to pay for these.  However, older people will need care in increasing numbers, whether this is in their own home, extra care housing, a care home or a medical facility”.

Record numbers of pensioners are being admitted to hospital suffering malnutrition, and this is being blamed on the growing social care crisis.  Charities believe older people are being left to starve both in their own home, and also in care homes.  NHS data suggests that malnutrition identified on hospital admissions has tripled for adults in the last decade or so.

A Green Paper on Social Care was promised over 2 years ago but has been repeatedly delayed and was dropped in 2017 as the Government feared “dementia tax” would feature in their General Election.  Lesley Carter from the charity “Age UK” said many older people are isolated and being left to waste away.  With care services under pressure many older people receive a meal quickly but no one has the time to stay with the person and ensure that they actually eat it.    Even in a care home the same situation can exist with people being admitted to hospital underweight.  More people going to their local Council requesting help are finding they are turned away, and that the system is too complex.

Independent Owner Mark Booker commented “we are all emotionally attached to more funding for the NHS and politically it is a headline grabber. However in reality with rapidly rising numbers of elderly people the greater need is probably social care.  The two are linked because if we invested in good social care then it is likely less older people would need to be admitted to hospital, and if they are admitted they would stay a shorter time.  However, if we want to help older people we must accept that social care is just as important as the NHS.”

A family history of dementia may not be as bleak as previously thought, and those with a high genetic risk may reduce their risk by a third with a healthy lifestyle. A study of 196,000 people showed that the risk of dementia of dementia fell even by those genetically prone if they adopt a healthy lifestyle.  The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 1.8% of people classed as being of high risk developed dementia if they smoked, drank and ate unhealthily compared with just 1.1% who looked after themselves.

In the UK more than 850,00 people have a dementia diagnosis and this is expected to rise to over 1 million by 2025.  One in 14 people aged over 65 years has dementia rising to one in six over the age of 80.

Independent Living Owner (Mark Booker) stated “we care for many people with dementia, and a large number of people with the illness can be cared for at home with support.  With regard lifestyles we are seeing much more in the press about the importance of a healthy lifestyle.  When I was growing up in the 70s/80s it was normal for people to smoke on a bus, the other day I saw an article saying less than 15% of the adult population now smokes – this shows we are now doing more to improve our health.”

Sir Jackie Stewart explained his wife has virtually no memories because of dementia and says the effect of dementia on families is “horrendous”.  His wife was diagnosed with frontal lobe dementia in 2014 and now needs round the clock care from a team of nurses  at home. Sir Jackie set up a charity “Race Against Dementia” last year.  He and his wife live on the shores of Lake Geneva which has hi-tec equipment installed to prevent his wife falling in the night and detecting when she gets up.  He told the BBC that whilst diseases such as cancer get the attention dementia has a horrendous effect on the family.

He explained how his wife was a bright lady, in the past recording his lap times.  However, after a 2104 car crash she was diagnosed with dementia and since has struggled to walk and requires constant help.  He said, the other day someone who was just 39 years old was diagnosed with dementia so we have to do something about it, and the only way is through research.  He was speaking before a visit to Larkhill Circuit a series of kart races next month in aid of “Race Against Dementia”.  Dementia affects millions with a diagnosis every three seconds and in future it maybe one in three of us gets dementia.

Independent Living Owner (Mark Booker) commented, “as a care company we are noticing a rise of people with dementia.  As Sir Jackie states we both need to find a cure but also help those families who cannot afford the round the clock care.  A cure is vital and dementia is just as important as other high profile diseases such as cancer.”

Parkinsons could be identified decades earlier following a recent breakthrough.  The disease has symptoms such as tremors, and memory loss as a result of falling levels of dopamine, a chemical that transmits signals between the brain and body.  However, it is now believed that reduced levels of another chemical messenger serotonin is also important. It is believed that if people have reduced levels of serotonin in their 20s they are virtually certain to develop Parkinsons in their 50s/60s.  The belief is that if Parkinsons is detected much earlier then treatments can be put in place decades earlier.

Independent Living Owner (Mark Booker) commented “we have offered care for Parkinsons since we started providing home care back in 2011.  Because the number of cases of Alzheimers/Memory Loss is much higher than Parkinsons it gets much more media attention.  However, from our experience Parkinsons is also widespread and despite many people knowing about the tremors it is much more.  Parkinsons can affect speech, swallowing, stiff muscles, low mood, disturbed sleep and freezing.  People with Parkinsons often require a lot of home care to support them.  We are pleased to here progress is being made into finding treatments for sufferers much earlier.”

The head of the NHS Dementia strategy has warned the organisation cannot keep up as cases surge.  Around 454,000 people aged over 65 in England have had a formal diagnosis, and this represents a 7% increase over 3 years.  This is due to an ageing population and their is no cure.  However, if cases are spotted early people can be better supported.  Alzheimers Research UK sates the disease costs £26 billion a year.  However, many cases remain undiagnosed and this could be as high as 220,000 additional people.  Within a decade one in five people will be aged over 65 and inevitably this will cause dementia  cases to rise.  The high levels of dementia will cause the biggest crisis in social care in our time according to Jeremy Hughes the Chief Executive of the Alzhiemers Society.

At present a cure remains elusive with many test drugs failing their clinical trials.  The best defence at present is simply to have a good diet, no smoking, sleeping well and exercising.

Mark Booker (Independent Living) commented “we care for a large number of older people in the Chorley, Leyland and Parbold area.  We are often told our customers are a bit forgetful, or that they have dementia but haven’t had a formal memory test.  So clearly whilst the headline dementia figures demonstrate the problem behind these figures are a much higher number of people who need care.  Dementia is hard for the home care industry because whilst people can live at home without problems at some point the may deteriorate and making a decision as to whether they are, or are not safe at home is very difficult”.

Last week I watched “Panorama” on BBC1 which investigated the state of the care industry.  Sometimes when you see programmes on TV or read articles in the newspaper about your industry, i.e care,  it is clear that the content is produced by people who don’t really understand the care industry.  In many case they resort to the lazy cliched stories – usually about carers abusing older people, or care homes falling below standard!

However, the Panorama programme really did focus on the issues the care industry.  They interviewed a range of people from care business owners like myself through to care staff, customers, customers families and those running social services.  Generally speaking they avoided the usual “blame game”.  I felt the programme highlighted the “perfect storm” – people over 80 years old will double in 20 years but no-one really knows how the care will be funded or delivered.  At the present time record employment levels not seen since 1975 are great but for the care sector it means a chronic staff shortage.  Usually this is dealt with by raising wages to attract/retain care staff (they deserve a decent wage) but if those paying for the service don’t raise hourly care rates better wages cannot be paid for.  As a result we are seeing care homes close, care companies giving rural packages back because they cannot even cover costs- at a time when care need are exploding – its madness!

My own “bug bear” is BREXIT, I don’t have strong views on Europe but it does seem it has caused us to stop thinking about anything else.  I am completely mystified as to why we cannot get a Care Green Paper published on the future on care because of BREXIT!  London has an army of civil servants.  I think in a few years time we will look back and realise 4 years on BREXIT debate has stopped the county moving forward in other ways – care, transport, education, business support etc.

The upshot of all this – we need the Government to invest the time in working out how care will be provided to our growing elderly population.  If we do not we will be in a position where we have more need and fewer care delivers.