Visiting home nurses may hold ‘key’
District nurses who visit the frail and elderly in their own homes could hold the key to identifying those predisposed to dementia, Dr Susan Koch, senior RDNS researcher and chair of the Dementia Advisory Group, said.
District nurses who visit the frail and elderly in their own homes could hold the key to identifying those predisposed to dementia, Dr Susan Koch, senior RDNS researcher and chair of the Dementia Advisory Group, said.
An RDNS trial, now underway in Melbourne, focused on pre-diagnosis, ensuring clinical intervention was in place before a patient was diagnosed with dementia in a doctor’s surgery.
An important part of the trial, which is a nurse-led program of positive dementia practice funded by the Ian Potter Foundation, was the multi-faceted support for families and carers, according to Dr Koch.
“Dementia is insidious. It will increase from about 257,000 people in 2010 to just over 981,000 in 2050, and is predicted to become the leading cause of disability in Australia in four years.
“The government has listed dementia as a national health priority. RDNS is doubly fortunate having a cutting edge, dedicated research institute on the one hand and teams of nurses at the coalface on the other,” she said.
According to Dr Koch, RDNS has a “continuum which sees evidence-based inquiry and research feed into work being performed in a clinical setting in people’s homes”.
“This is a unique scenario as it means we are well placed to be innovative in workforce design, work with our partners and take continuous improvement into people’s homes.
“It boils down to us working as a team to provide optimal care for older people in the community.”
The RDNS trial involves a specialist nurse, with expertise in dementia care, operating from RDNS’ site in the Melbourne suburb of Altona, specifically caring for clients with cognitive impairment.
“This entails identifying symptoms and taking a strategic and clinical approach through the next steps, which includes helping the clients, their carers and their families through the journey – ideally before the first main destination – being formal diagnosis in the doctor’s surgery or in a hospital.
“All this removes the suddenness and the shock of the oh-dear-what-now scenario seen daily in doctors’ surgeries around the country where the patient has not had the advantage of timely explanation and preparation for change.”
Dr Koch hoped the trial would move to being “accepted practice”, helping everyone from “the client and their carers and families to the GP and nurses – and society itself”.
RDNS has been invited to be part of a $25 million Partnership Centre Investigator Team dealing with cognitive and associated functional decline in the elderly. The Partnership Centre aims to target services, policies and practices and – through the implementation of research findings – improve the care and support of people with dementia.
