Family Resources

The number of people with dementia is expected to increase with a consequential effect on the wellbeing of families and increasing pressure on an already over-burdened health and social care system. Risk factors for dementia, both modifiable and non-modifiable,
if appropriately understood and identified are amenable to management and amelioration. Community and primary care nurses are in an ideal position to support the reduction and management of risk pre and post dementia diagnosis. Using a case study, this paper highlights some of the issues in identifying, assessing and managing risk in a person with an existing diagnosis of dementia and their family/carer. The potential for dementia-related risks to escalate can have a much wider impact on a family unit if not appropriately identified, managed and mitigated against. 

The increase in dementia diagnosis and the recognised negative outcomes of acute hospital admission for this patient group, has led to a call for improved community care for people with dementia and their families. Primary care organisations are now exploring ways in which to provide high quality dementia care from peri-diagnosis through to end of life. Here, Emily Oliver, consultant Admiral Nurse and Victoria Lyons, senior consultant Admiral Nurse, explain how Dementia UK is supporting primary care networks (PCNs) to do this through the provision of Admiral Nurses.

(Emily Oliver: emily.oliver@dementiauk.org, @emilyoliverdem; Victoria Lyons: victoria.lyons@dementiauk.org, @viclyons)

Working in a large organisation like the NHS means that patients’ voices can be forgotten. JCN speaks to Anu Singh of NHS England about how to keep the lines of communication open...