Health Care and Stage Dementia Support

In this assignment, I researched about the health problem, dementia. Dementia is one of the serious health problems Australia encounters. This is due to the fact that the aging of population in Australia is increasing. Thus, the number of people who are diagnosed as dementia is increasing every year. Brown & Edwards (2005) suggested that there are approximately 18,000 new cases of dementia in Australia every year. Harris, Nagy and Vardaxis (2006) stated ¡®dementia is a progressive organic mental disorder characterised by chronic personality disintegration, confusion, disorientation, stupor, deterioration of intellectual capacity and function, and impairment of control of memory£¬ judgement and impulses.¡¯ (p.501) Brown& Edwards (2005) noted that the decline in cognitive functions affect individual¡¯s ability to work and therefore they are not able to complete the tasks. In an aetiology view, dementia is commonly caused by advanced age, family history, neurodegenerative conditions and vascular. (Brown & Edwards, 2005) Neurodegenerative conditions are those diseases of the brain such as infectious diseases tend to strike people in very old age. (Brown & Edward, 2005) Up to now, the most common type of neurodegenerative diseases is known as Alzheimer¡¯s disease. (Stewart, Prince& Mann, 1999) Vascular dementia is a degenerative cerebrovascular disease that leads to a progressive decline in memory and cognitive functioning. It occurs when the blood supply carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain is interrupted by a blocked or diseased vascular system. (Crisp & Taylor, 2005) Dementia affects mainly in older people. Brown & Edwards (2005) stated¡¯ As the average life span of humans increase, the number of those affected with dementia is growing and is now a major international public health concern.¡¯(p.1584)
The high prevalence of dementia in Australia has a great impact on the public health. Dementia has the potential to become an enormous public health

References: Brown, D. & Edwards, H. (2005). Lewis¡¯s medical-surgical nursing: Assessment and Management of clinical problems. Australia: Elsevier Pty Limited. Crisp & Taylor (2001). Potter & Perry¡¯s fundamentals of nursing. Australia: Elsevier Pty Limited. Harris, P. Nagy, S & Vardaxis, N. (2006). Mosby¡¯s dictionary of medicine, nursing & health professions. Australia: Elseiver Pty Limited Stewart, R., Prince, M. & Mann, A. (1999) Vascular risk factors and Alzheimer 's disease. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 33, 809¨C813. Family Caregivers (2006): Caring for older adults, working with their families AJN, American Journal of Nursing, August 2006 Submission to the senate community affairs references committee.(2004), Inquiry into aged care department of health and ageing Retrieved August 10, 2004, from http://216.109.125.130/search/cache?p=OVERVIEW+OF+AUSTRALIAN+GOVERNMENT+FUNDED+AGED+CARE+PROGRAMS+&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&u=www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/aged_care04/submissions/sub191.pdf&w=overview+australian+government+funded+aged+care+programs&d=K0KiWpIFNld8&icp=1&.intl=us Alzheimer 's Australia WA (2004): Living with Memory Loss Program, from http://www.alzheimers.asn.au/index.php?page=viewStory&owner=alzheimer&id=8182 Alzheimer¡¯s Australia, National Programs, from http://www.alzheimers.org.au/content.cfm?infopageid=404