Towards A Seamless Service - SCIE's Response To The National Dementia Strategy, UK

Main Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Article Date: 05 Feb 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Effective joint working between health and social care will bring considerable benefits to people with dementia, says Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) in its response to today's National Dementia Strategy

In particular, SCIE welcomes the focus on improving care for people with dementia in care homes - an area that often suffers from insufficient training and uncoordinated services.

One-third of people with dementia live in care homes and at least two-thirds of all people living in care homes have a form of dementia. Deputy Chief Executive of SCIE, Amanda Edwards, said:

"People with dementia and their carers consistently tell us how important it is that health and social services work together as one service. This is particularly vital for people who live in residential care and come across social care staff, nurses, doctors and social workers with different training, priorities and ideas about dementia support. When local authorities, health trusts and PCT's work well together to commission joint training and services, we see examples of care that go beyond the minimum standards and promote better wellbeing.

"SCIE is developing knowledge and good practice resources that will help everyone working in dementia care learn more about the condition, how to help identify it and the type of approach to take when supporting people and their families."

SCIE has produced a joint guideline on dementia with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). As part of its work on Dignity in Care, SCIE also promotes clear messages around communicating and engaging with older people in their homes in a way that recognises their humanity.

Chair of SCIE, Allan Bowman, said:

"We have always promoted an approach to dementia that looks at the person rather than the condition - and we must do more to raise awareness of this with professionals and families.

"People have individual identities, and it's simply not acceptable to expect older people to be treated differently from the rest of the population. By addressing negative attitudes to dementia we can challenge stigma, open up choice and help people live well."

Visit http://www.scie.org.uk for more information and SCIE's resources on mental health and older people.

Notes

- An example of a Gloucestershire care home that delivers joint services is available.

- The National Dementia Strategy tasks SCIE with working with the independent sector to promote good practice in care homes.

- SCIE is working with the Alzheimer's Society to produce e-learning resources that raise awareness of dementia.

- In early summer 2009 SCIE will launch the Dementia Gateway - a collection of dementia policy, guidance and resources.

- SCIE has produced a short film on joint working in care homes available on request.

In 2006, SCIE and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published a guideline that sets out best practice in the identification, treatment and care of people with dementia and the support that should be provided for carers within healthcare and social care. The guide takes a holistic approach to dementia - looking at the person rather than the condition - and makes the following recommendations:

- People with dementia should not be excluded from any service because of their diagnosis or age.
- Health and social care professionals should always seek valid consent from people with dementia.
- Health and social care managers should ensure that the rights of carers to receive an assessment of needs are upheld.
- Health and social care managers should coordinate and integrate working across all agencies involved in the treatment and care of people with dementia.
- Memory assessments should be the first point of referral for all people with a possible diagnosis of dementia.
- People with dementia who develop non-cognitive symptoms that cause them significant distress or who develop challenging behaviour should be offered an assessment at an early opportunity.
- Health and social care managers should ensure that all staff working with older people in the health, social care and voluntary sectors have access to dementia-care training.
- Acute and general hospital trusts should plan and provide services that address the specific personal and social care needs as well as the mental and physical health of people with dementia who use acute hospital facilities for any reason.

About SCIE

- The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) was established by Government in 2001. It aims to improve the experiences of social care service users by advancing and promoting knowledge about good practice. SCIE's resources bring together policy and research with the opinions of practitioners, service users and carers.

- SCIE is a registered charity that works in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It covers the whole of social care including services for adults, children and families, stakeholder participation, people management, social work education, e-learning and the use of knowledge in social care.

- SCIE also runs Social Care Online - the most comprehensive database of social care information.

Social Care Institute for Excellence

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