Medicines management for people with dementia

Pain assessment and management for people with dementia in the community

People with dementia commonly experience pain, but it is often unrecognised, unrelieved and remains an underlying issue as the condition progresses. As a result, pain management for people with dementia is inadequate. Community nurses have a fundamental role in the assessment and management of pain and in supporting family carers. This article details the causes and effects of pain in people with dementia, explains the components of a holistic approach to individualised pain assessment, and describes various pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions that can be used to manage pain in this population.

Role of caregivers on medication adherence management in polymedicated patients with Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia

Background

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementia patients may have severe difficulties to ensure medication adherence due to their generally advanced age, polymedicated and multi-pathological situations as well as certain degree of cognitive impairment. Thus, the role of patient caregivers becomes crucial to warrantee treatment compliance.

Purpose

To assess the factors associated to patients and caregivers on medication adherence of patients with AD and other types of dementia as well as the degree of caregiver satisfaction with respect to treatment.

Methods

An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study among the caregivers of 100 patients with AD and other types of dementia of the "Cartagena and Region Association of Relatives of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and other Neurodegenerative Diseases" was conducted to assess patient and caregiver factors that influence medication adherence evaluated with the Morisky-Green-Levine test.

Results

Overall, adherence to treatment was 71%, with similar proportions between male and female patients. Greater adherence was found in married or widowed patients (49.3%), first degree (85.9%) or female (81.7%) caregivers but lower in AD patients (75.9%). Multivariate analysis showed a statistically significant positive association between non-adherence and male sex of the caregiver (OR 3.512 [95%IC 1.124-10.973]), dementia (OR 3.065 [95%IC 1.019-9.219]), type of caregiver (non-first-degree relative) (OR 0.325 [95%IC 0.054-0.672]) and civil status of the patient (OR 2.011 [95%IC 1.155-3.501]) favorable for married or widowed patients. No or week association was found with gender, age, education level, number of drugs used or polymedicated status of the patient. Caregivers considered the use (90%) and administration (91%) of the treatment easy or very easy and rarely interfered with their daily life, especially for female caregivers (p = 0.016). Finally, 71% indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the treatment received by the patient.

Conclusions

Caregivers influence therapeutic management with predictors for improved adherence including female gender and first-degree kinship, together with patient's marital status. Thus, training caregivers about the disease and the importance of medication adherence in AD patients may ensure optimal treatment.

Is deception defensible in dementia care? A care ethics perspective

Deception is common in dementia care, although its moral legitimacy is questionable. This paper conceptually clarifies when does dementia care involve deception and argues that care ethics is an appropriate ethical framework to guide dementia care compared with the mainstream ethical theories that emphasize abilities. From a perspective of care ethics, this paper claims that morally defensible deception is context-specific, embodied as a caring process that needs to be identified through instant, creative and interactive care procedures. According to this argument, it further analyses and concludes the moral rationality of deception in five common cases. While deception is morally justified in many situations, another concern is that it is usually not the last resort but a means of convenience. As the ability to interact, autonomy and dignity of persons with dementia (PWDs) are generally ignored; nurses need more training and education to master the essential procedures to ensure that the value of authenticity and autonomy is maintained and considered throughout dementia care.