The quality of care of persons with dementia in hospitals is not optimal and can be challenging. ... more The quality of care of persons with dementia in hospitals is not optimal and can be challenging. Moreover, staff may find difficulty in translating what they have learned during training into practice. This paper report the development and evaluation of a set of workshops using an appreciative inquiry approach to implement person-centred dementia care in two hospital wards. Staff worked collaboratively to develop a ward vision and to implement a number of action plans. Using appreciative inquiry approach, staff attitudes towards persons with dementia improved, inter-professional collaboration was enhanced and small changes in staff practices were noted. Dementia care in hospitals can be enhanced by empowering staff to take small but concrete actions after they engage in appreciative inquiry workshops, during which they are listened to and appreciated for what they can contribute.
To report the findings of a review of literature relating to the continence care of community-dwe... more To report the findings of a review of literature relating to the continence care of community-dwelling people with dementia in Europe. More than two thirds of people with dementia live at home and many experience continence problems. Incontinence is a significant contributor towards institutionalisation. Care and support is often inadequate or inappropriate and guidelines are lacking. This represents a failure to respect the human rights and dignity of this group. A structured review of the literature relating to the continence care of community-dwelling people with dementia in Europe with a focus on problems and challenges. Search terms reflecting dementia, continence, care/management and guidelines for community-dwelling people with dementia were applied to four databases. Hand searching was also carried out. 208 articles were searched for content relating to problems and challenges linked to continence care for this group. Six relevant articles were fully reviewed. The main difficulties and challenges included: (1) perceptions, (2) availability/ provision of support and care, (3) financial cost, (4) mobility and the environment, (5) relationships and social inclusion and (6) emotional issues. Dementia and incontinence have profound effects on quality of life. The dearth of good quality data within this area and the findings of the review confirm the need for expert, consensus-based guidelines and appropriate research to ensure that the rights and dignity of people with dementia are respected. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on older persons who reside in long-term care set... more The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on older persons who reside in long-term care settings, especially residents living with dementia. The physical and psychological burden of the current pandemic has also been felt by frontline caring staff including nurses caring for persons living with dementia. The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of nurses while caring for residents with dementia who resided in long-term dementia care units during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine Maltese nurses working in dementia care units were interviewed during the month of February 2021. Following analysis of the transcripts, three themes were identified; ‘living the challenges of the pandemic’, ‘passing through a roller coaster of emotions’ and ‘building on personal and organisational resilience’. The participants lived through several challenges which in turn generated both positive and negative emotions. Moving forward through this period mostly relied on their coping strategies, h...
Previous estimates have indicated that in 2005, there were 4,072 individuals with dementia (IWD) ... more Previous estimates have indicated that in 2005, there were 4,072 individuals with dementia (IWD) in the Maltese islands and that this number would almost double by the year 2050. These figures were based on the EURODEM project that analysed the results of a population-based systematic review of published studies on the global prevalence of dementia from 1980 to 2004. Since then, further dementia prevalence studies have been carried out in Europe. These were reviewed in another European funded project, the EUROCODE project, with the aim of developing consensual European age and gender specific prevalence rates that would be acceptable for all countries. Using these revised rates, the estimated number of IWD over 60 years of age in the Maltese islands in 2010 was found to be 5,198; a significant increase on previous projected data. Likewise, the number of IWD in Malta over 60 years in 2030 is projected to be close to 10,000 persons or 2.3% of the total Maltese population. Using these ...
Dementia is not a single disease or condition but a syndrome of multiple causes. It is usually us... more Dementia is not a single disease or condition but a syndrome of multiple causes. It is usually used as an ‘umbrella’ term (Moore, 2009) for more than 200 different conditions and disorders characterised by a progressive deterioration in cognitive function, some of which are considerably rare. Knopman et al. (2003) proposed different diagnostic criteria for differentiating between the most common types of dementia, namely Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Vascular Dementia, Dementia with Lewy Body and Fronto-temporal dementia. Such cognitive decline includes loss of memory and impairment in executive functions such as planning and organisational skills, accompanied by personality changes and deterioration in cognitive function sufficient to limit social activities.
This commentary addresses the urgent need to improve the care of patients with dementia and cogni... more This commentary addresses the urgent need to improve the care of patients with dementia and cognitive impairment in Maltese hospitals by proposing a number of dementia-friendly hospital-based initiatives. The authors discuss the rationale for developing these interventions in view of the increase in prevalence of persons with dementia in the Maltese Islands, some of whom may require hospital care at any time. Lessons learned from initiatives abroad are reviewed and an overview of the key objectives set out in the National Strategy for Dementia in the Maltese Islands is given. Finally, this article proposes a number of dementiafriendly initiatives that can be introduced in Maltese hospitals so as to induce the required change.
The quality of care of persons with dementia in hospitals is not optimal and can be challenging. ... more The quality of care of persons with dementia in hospitals is not optimal and can be challenging. Moreover, staff may find difficulty in translating what they have learned during training into practice. This paper report the development and evaluation of a set of workshops using an appreciative inquiry approach to implement person-centred dementia care in two hospital wards. Staff worked collaboratively to develop a ward vision and to implement a number of action plans. Using appreciative inquiry approach, staff attitudes towards persons with dementia improved, inter-professional collaboration was enhanced and small changes in staff practices were noted. Dementia care in hospitals can be enhanced by empowering staff to take small but concrete actions after they engage in appreciative inquiry workshops, during which they are listened to and appreciated for what they can contribute.
To report the findings of a review of literature relating to the continence care of community-dwe... more To report the findings of a review of literature relating to the continence care of community-dwelling people with dementia in Europe. More than two thirds of people with dementia live at home and many experience continence problems. Incontinence is a significant contributor towards institutionalisation. Care and support is often inadequate or inappropriate and guidelines are lacking. This represents a failure to respect the human rights and dignity of this group. A structured review of the literature relating to the continence care of community-dwelling people with dementia in Europe with a focus on problems and challenges. Search terms reflecting dementia, continence, care/management and guidelines for community-dwelling people with dementia were applied to four databases. Hand searching was also carried out. 208 articles were searched for content relating to problems and challenges linked to continence care for this group. Six relevant articles were fully reviewed. The main difficulties and challenges included: (1) perceptions, (2) availability/ provision of support and care, (3) financial cost, (4) mobility and the environment, (5) relationships and social inclusion and (6) emotional issues. Dementia and incontinence have profound effects on quality of life. The dearth of good quality data within this area and the findings of the review confirm the need for expert, consensus-based guidelines and appropriate research to ensure that the rights and dignity of people with dementia are respected. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on older persons who reside in long-term care set... more The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on older persons who reside in long-term care settings, especially residents living with dementia. The physical and psychological burden of the current pandemic has also been felt by frontline caring staff including nurses caring for persons living with dementia. The aim of the study was to explore the experiences of nurses while caring for residents with dementia who resided in long-term dementia care units during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine Maltese nurses working in dementia care units were interviewed during the month of February 2021. Following analysis of the transcripts, three themes were identified; ‘living the challenges of the pandemic’, ‘passing through a roller coaster of emotions’ and ‘building on personal and organisational resilience’. The participants lived through several challenges which in turn generated both positive and negative emotions. Moving forward through this period mostly relied on their coping strategies, h...
Previous estimates have indicated that in 2005, there were 4,072 individuals with dementia (IWD) ... more Previous estimates have indicated that in 2005, there were 4,072 individuals with dementia (IWD) in the Maltese islands and that this number would almost double by the year 2050. These figures were based on the EURODEM project that analysed the results of a population-based systematic review of published studies on the global prevalence of dementia from 1980 to 2004. Since then, further dementia prevalence studies have been carried out in Europe. These were reviewed in another European funded project, the EUROCODE project, with the aim of developing consensual European age and gender specific prevalence rates that would be acceptable for all countries. Using these revised rates, the estimated number of IWD over 60 years of age in the Maltese islands in 2010 was found to be 5,198; a significant increase on previous projected data. Likewise, the number of IWD in Malta over 60 years in 2030 is projected to be close to 10,000 persons or 2.3% of the total Maltese population. Using these ...
Dementia is not a single disease or condition but a syndrome of multiple causes. It is usually us... more Dementia is not a single disease or condition but a syndrome of multiple causes. It is usually used as an ‘umbrella’ term (Moore, 2009) for more than 200 different conditions and disorders characterised by a progressive deterioration in cognitive function, some of which are considerably rare. Knopman et al. (2003) proposed different diagnostic criteria for differentiating between the most common types of dementia, namely Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Vascular Dementia, Dementia with Lewy Body and Fronto-temporal dementia. Such cognitive decline includes loss of memory and impairment in executive functions such as planning and organisational skills, accompanied by personality changes and deterioration in cognitive function sufficient to limit social activities.
This commentary addresses the urgent need to improve the care of patients with dementia and cogni... more This commentary addresses the urgent need to improve the care of patients with dementia and cognitive impairment in Maltese hospitals by proposing a number of dementia-friendly hospital-based initiatives. The authors discuss the rationale for developing these interventions in view of the increase in prevalence of persons with dementia in the Maltese Islands, some of whom may require hospital care at any time. Lessons learned from initiatives abroad are reviewed and an overview of the key objectives set out in the National Strategy for Dementia in the Maltese Islands is given. Finally, this article proposes a number of dementiafriendly initiatives that can be introduced in Maltese hospitals so as to induce the required change.
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Papers by Anthony Scerri