Aging & mental health
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Many publications on dementia start by outlining the current estimated number of people with dementia and how that figure is going to double (in Western societies) or even quadruple (in developing countries) in the coming decades as a result of increasing life expectancy (in itself a good development). Dementia is therefore a huge challenge to society, both in terms of providing good care for persons living with dementia and their family caregivers, as well as in searching for curative solutions. Both these challenges are complex. ⋯ Now that epidemiological research robustly shows the link between lifestyle and risk of dementia, new challenges emerge, such as how to increase public awareness about brain health, how to develop and implement strategies to promote brain healthy lifestyles and how to avoid increasing health inequalities. Interdem, the pan-European network of researchers on Psychosocial Interventions in Dementia, strongly welcomes this new strategy and consequently established a taskforce on primary prevention. In this position paper, we outline what we see as main building blocks of primary prevention of dementia.
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Aging & mental health · Jul 2021
Pain in nursing home residents with dementia and its association to quality of life.
We aimed to describe pain, use of analgesics and quality of life (QoL) in people with dementia admitted to a Norwegian nursing home (NH), and to explore if and how pain was associated with their QoL when adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, other health conditions and use of analgesics. ⋯ Pain prevalence at NH admission was high in residents with dementia; half used analgesics, particularly paracetamol. More severe pain was associated with poorer QoL when adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, other health conditions, and use of analgesics. The routine assessment of pain at NH admission can uncover undiagnosed and untreated pain and allow for adequate non-pharmacological and pharmacological pain management and likely increased QoL.
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Aging & mental health · Mar 2021
Rehabilitation of persons with dementia: using technology to improve participation.
The current study examined how a technology system, "It's Never 2 Late" (iN2L), may help augment traditional rehabilitation strategies for older adults with dementia by improving engagement in therapy sessions and achieving better functional outcomes. ⋯ Findings suggest that iN2L technology has the potential to increase treatment engagement and enhance rehabilitation outcomes among older adults with dementia.
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Aging & mental health · Mar 2021
Adverse childhood experience patterns, major depressive disorder, and substance use disorder in older adults.
This article investigates distinct patterns of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a representative sample of US older adults, and how the ACEs patterns relate to major depression and substance use disorder (SUD). ⋯ The findings provide evidence for a long-term impact of ACEs on mental health and SUD later in life and emphasize trauma-informed care principles in interventions for older adults with SUD.
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Aging & mental health · Jan 2021
Psychotropic drug use in community-dwelling people with young-onset dementia: two-year course and determinants.
The aim of this study was to describe the course of psychotropic drug use in people with young-onset dementia and to explore possible associations with age, sex, dementia severity, dementia subtype and neuropsychiatric symptoms. ⋯ Despite the recommendations of various guidelines, the prolonged use of psychotropic drugs in community-dwelling people with young-onset dementia is high. Therefore, more attention is needed to timely evaluate psychotropic drug use and the introduction of self-management programs for caregivers should be encouraged to support caregivers in dealing with the neuropsychiatric symptoms caused by the dementia.