Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively impact a person's ability to function and carry out everyday activities. Aside from memory impairment and a disruption in thought patterns, the most common symptoms include emotional problems, difficulties with language, and decreased motivation. The symptoms may be described as occurring in a continuum over several stages. Consciousness is not affected. Dementia ultimately has a significant effect on the individual, caregivers, and on social relationships in general. A diagnosis of dementia requires the observation of a change from a person's usual mental functioning, and a greater cognitive decline than what is caused by normal aging. Several diseases and injuries to the brain, such as a stroke, can give rise to dementia. However, the most common cause is Alzheimer's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder.
An assisted living residence or assisted living facility (ALF) is a housing facility for people with disabilities or for adults who cannot or who choose not to live independently. The term is popular in the United States, but the setting is similar to a retirement home, in the sense that facilities provide a group living environment and typically cater to an older adult population. There is also Caribbean assisted living, which offers a similar service in a resort-like environment.
Alzheimer's Society is a United Kingdom care and research charity for people with dementia and their carers. It operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while its sister charities Alzheimer Scotland and Alzheimer's Society of Ireland cover Scotland and the Republic of Ireland respectively.
Community Medical Center is a fully accredited acute care hospital in Toms River, New Jersey, serving the entire northern Ocean County area. The hospital is Ocean County's largest and most active healthcare facility.
The Alzheimer's Association was founded by Jerome H. Stone with the help of several family members in Chicago, Illinois, and incorporated on April 10, 1980, as the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc. It is a non-profit American volunteer health organization which focuses on care, support and research for Alzheimer's disease. The Alzheimer's Association is the largest non-profit funder of Alzheimer's disease research. The organization has chapters and communities across the nation, with its national office located in Chicago and the public policy office in Washington, D.C. Its mission is "to eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health."
A group home is a residence model of medical care for those with complex health needs. Traditionally, the model has been used for children or young people who cannot live with their families or afford their own homes, people with chronic disabilities who may be adults or seniors, or people with dementia and related aged illnesses. Typically, there are no more than six residents, and there is at least one trained caregiver there 24 hours a day. In some early "model programs", a house manager, night manager, weekend activity coordinator, and four part-time skill teachers were reported. Originally, the term group home referred to homes of 8 to 16 individuals, which was a state-mandated size during deinstitutionalization. Residential nursing facilities, also included in this article, may be as large in 2015 as 100 individuals, which is no longer the case in fields such as intellectual and developmental disabilities. Depending on the severity of the condition requiring one to need to live in a group home, some clients are able to attend day programs and most clients are able to live normal lifestyles.
The Alzheimer Society of Ontario (ASO) is a care and research charity committed to helping people living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias by:
Geriatric psychiatry, also known as geropsychiatry, psychogeriatrics or psychiatry of old age, is a branch of medicine and a subspecialty of psychiatry dealing with the study, prevention, and treatment of neurodegenerative, cognitive impairment, and mental disorders in people of old age. Geriatric psychiatry as a subspecialty has significant overlap with the specialties of geriatric medicine, behavioural neurology, neuropsychiatry, neurology, and general psychiatry. Geriatric psychiatry has become an official subspecialty of psychiatry with a defined curriculum of study and core competencies.
As populations age, caring for people with dementia has become more common. Elderly caregiving may consist of formal care and informal care. Formal care involves the services of community and medical partners, while informal care involves the support of family, friends, and local communities, but more often from spouses, adult children and other relatives. In most mild to medium cases of dementia, the caregiver is a family member, usually a spouse or adult child. Over time more professional care in the form of nursing and other supportive care may be required, whether at home or in a long term care facility. There is evidence that case management can improve care for individuals with dementia and the experience of their caregivers. Furthermore, case management may reduce overall cost and institutional care in the medium term.
The Alzheimer Society of Canada (ASC) is a Canadian health charity for people living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Active in communities right across Canada, the Society partners with Alzheimer Societies in every Canadian province to offer information, support and education programs for people with dementia, their families and caregivers. The Alzheimer Society of Canada acts as the national voice for the thousands of Canadians living with dementia and advocates on their behalf for positive change. The Society also funds young and established Canadian researchers working to find the causes and a cure through the Alzheimer Society Research Program.
Memory Bridge, founded in 2004 as The Foundation for Alzheimer's and Cultural Memory, is an American nonprofit organization that creates programs that connect people with Alzheimer's disease to family, friends, and other people in their local community.
Caregiver syndrome or caregiver stress is a condition that strongly manifests exhaustion, anger, rage, or guilt resulting from unrelieved caring for a chronically ill patient. This condition is not listed in the United States' Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, although the term is often used by many healthcare professionals in that country. The equivalent used in many other countries, the ICD-11, does include the condition.
The Society for the Arts in Dementia Care is a non-profit organization dedicated to knowledge dissemination and education that focuses on improving the quality of lives of seniors living with dementia by using the visual and performing arts.
The Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) is an American nonprofit organization based in New York City whose mission is to provide support, services and education to individuals, families and caregivers affected by Alzheimer's disease and related dementias nationwide, and fund research for better treatment and a cure. AFA unites more than 2,000 member organizations from coast-to-coast that are dedicated to meeting the educational, social, emotional and practical needs of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses, and their caregivers and families. Member organizations include grassroots Alzheimer's agencies, senior centers, adult daycare center, home healthcare agencies, long-term care residences, research facilities, and other dementia-related groups. AFA holds Charity Navigator's highest rating of 4 stars.
Caregiving by country is the regional variation of caregiving practices as distinguished among countries.
The Alzheimer Society of Ireland is the leading dementia specific service provider in Ireland. The registered offices are located at Blackrock, County Dublin. The Alzheimer Society of Ireland works across the country in the heart of local communities providing dementia specific services and supports and advocating for the rights and needs of all people living with dementia and their carers.
The Dementia with Lewy Bodies Consortium is an international multidisciplinary collaboration of researchers interested in the dementia with Lewy bodies. It first convened in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in October 1995. Between 1995 and 2005, it issued three DLBC Consensus Reports on dementia with Lewy bodies.
Dementia and Alzheimer's disease in Australia is a major health issue. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia in Australia. Dementia is an ever-increasing challenge as the population ages and life expectancy increases. As a consequence, there is an expected increase in the number of people with dementia, posing countless challenges to carers and the health and aged care systems. In 2018, an estimated 376,000 people had dementia; this number is expected to increase to 550,000 by 2030 and triple to 900,000 by 2050. The dementia death rate is increasing, resulting in the shift from fourth to second leading cause of death from 2006 to 2015. It is expected to become the leading cause of death over the next number of years. In 2011, it was the fourth leading cause of disease burden and third leading cause of disability burden. This is expected to remain the same until at least 2020.
The National Alzheimer's Project Act is an Act in the United States that was driven by the rapid increasing number of sufferers of Alzheimer's disease. It resulted in a U.S. National Alzheimer's Plan for increased spending on scientific research, care, and public engagement.
Constantine G. Lyketsos is the Elizabeth Plank Althouse Professor in Alzheimer's Disease Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. He is the founding director of the Richman Family Precision Medicine Center of Excellence in Alzheimer's Disease, and an associate director of the Johns Hopkins Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC).
