Keeping People With Dementia At Home

The researchers at Johns Hopkins have issued a new study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,  Unmet Needs of Community-Residing Persons with Dementia and Their Informal Caregivers: Findings from the Maximizing Independence at Home Study. A press release from John Hopkins about the story says the researchers offer that “routine assessments of patient and caregiver care needs coupled with simple fixes in the areas of safety — grab bars in the bathroom, carpets safely tacked down to prevent falls, guns locked away — and basic medical and supportive services could go a long way toward keeping those with dementia from ending up in a nursing or assisted-living facility.”  The press release points out that this research builds on prior work that shows a correlation between failing to address these needs and nursing home admissions:

Previous research has shown that greater unmet needs among people with dementia are predictive of nursing home placement and death. Caregiver stress also foretells of nursing home admission for people with dementia. The new study, described in the December issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, also finds most caregivers have multiple unmet needs, including lack of access to resources and referrals to support services and education about how to best care for their loved one.

The authors conclude that:

Many community-residing PWD and their caregivers have unmet dementia-related needs for care, services, and support. Providers should be aware that unmet needs may be higher in minority and low-income community residents, caregivers with lower education, and individuals with early-stage dementia. Identifying and treating symptoms of depression in PWD and caregivers may enable them to address their other unmet needs.

The full article is available here  in html or here as a pdf.