The Case of Dementia

Section 1: The Case of Dementia

Raj Ajun is a 56 year old with a family; he leaves with wife Aminah Singh and his 7-year granddaughter from his only son Ajun Kumar. On October 1, 2023, Mr. Raj checked in Max Hospital India with reported signs of dementia. Max Hospital is the leading and one of the first sought of dementia hospitals in India. We provide unmatched and special care to dementia patients in the country given our cutting-edge technology and top-notch medical experts under one roof that enables us to dispense quality healthcare services to the patients. Raj and the family leave in Mumbai, India. He is employed as a packer with Essel Propack Limited, and old Raj works in the Pharmacy and Health Packaging unit. For the last two years, Raj has been experiencing Alzheimer disease like symptoms archetypal of memory loss. For example, Raj informed me that he has been having difficulty tracking dates and his work shift hours, easily forgetting information learned through their weekly training programs at work, and taking long to complete his daily tasks. Raj’s wife Aminah also informed me that on September 28, 2023, her husband lost on his way home and ended entering their neighbors homestead calling her name there. She acknowledged this and the recent difficulty such as poor coordination and organization as well as frequent memory losses is what has prompted her to seek medical diagnosis over her husband’s growing troubles.

Section 2: Description and Justification of the Intervention

Prior to our diagnosis of suspected dementia disease, Max Hospital India culture’s the practice to first identify the patters for the loss of function and skills in a patient, and as such, my first intervention was to first identify which functions and skills has the patient lost as well as those that he still possessed. I thus used the CSF biomarker to carry out a more accurate diagnosis of possible dementia disease in the patient. I am glad, the invention of biomarkers in the health sector have been more of an asset in helping us detect early signs of dementia among patients. Before the early 2000, hospitals and health practitioners were not able to determine whether the patient had died because of Alzheimer disease or not until they did an autopsy after his death (National Institute on Aging, 2022). The use of biomarkers at our hospital has been effective in enabling us identify the biomarkers related with dementia in patients. For example, I carried out a PET scan on the patient which helped me identify whether Raj had tau protein, amyloid, or whether hallmarks of Alzheimer had been deposited in his brain. The findings would help me establish proper grounds for medical treatment by prescribing to the patient the right treatment regimens which would help treat his signs and symptoms.

I also used cues and gestures for example pointing to objects to learn the patient’s responsiveness. I encouraged Ms. Aminah Singh to consistently engage his husband in exercises. The primary benefit of exercise to people with dementia is that it increases their strength including physical and mental strength, cardiovascular health, and balance. Researchers at Mayo Clinic (2023) add that exercises can also help dementia patients showing signs of restlessness. As an experienced dementia health psychiatric, I have also learned that exercises help protect people from dementia especially if this is coupled with treatment for cardiovascular diseases, and accompanied with a balanced diet. My recommendation for this intervention measure was intended to help Raj slow down the progression of impaired thinking which a result of Alzheimer disease in him was. Moreover, exercises also lessen the symptoms of depression that too cause occasional memory losses.

Components of the Intermediate Care Facility my Intervention Targets

For a period of almost two years living with Alzheimer health like symptoms, Mr. Raj had never sought medical diagnosis for his troubling condition yet again these symptoms kept on manifesting and progressing in his life. There is no doubt Raj’s health condition was deteriorating all along and neither him nor her wife were concerned to think medication over his situation. As it is mentioned that the patient had began to show spatial memory losses including the loss of memory of his location, Raj’s condition needed much attention to diagnose and treat his condition and as well monitor her progression. The loss of spatial memory locations can be far more worrying for family members as it means such a patient can soon get into grievous conditions like being knocked down or hurt by merciless people if he ended up in wrong hands or homesteads. As such, my referral of the patient into an ICF was intended to help me monitor the patient’s progression in terms of memory (Connected Risk Solutions, 2018).

Risks Involved with the Intervention

Whereas there is an increase in the use of biomarkers such as the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients with Alzheimer disease, Khoury and Ghossoub (2019) say that the use of biomarkers in clinical settings is still premature since they are associated with the risks of over diagnosis, involve high costs to use, and there can be invasiveness of the evaluation method. In the current case, Mr. Raj presented with several symptoms of Alzheimer and dementia disease; sometimes biomarkers may not give the very accurate diagnosis which makes it hard to identify the correct treatment regimen. On the other hand, the use of physical exercises as an intervention method for an elderly patient likes Mr. Raj can possess adverse ramifications like general body weakness, restlessness and body pain which in due course can instead exacerbate his health condition. Proper and guided training exercises would for that case be recommended requiring a psychologist or therapist.

Section 3:

The treatment of patients with mental health disorders sometimes requires the involvement of various mental specialists to help in identifying or ruling out different conditions and guide in identifying the correct cause of a patient’s problems. In the current case, the involvement of a neurologist would be of great help in enabling me diagnose Raj’s exact cause for his memory problems. In particular, a neurologist is a medical specialist who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of disorders that affect the nervous system and the brain for example Alzheimer disease, Parkinson’s disease, Migraine headaches, and epilepsy (Lakeview Terrace of Boulder City, 2022). Neurologists carry out tests such as coordination, gait, speech, vision, and imaging tests such as MRI, and CT to identify whether a patient’s medical condition of memory loss is a result of the symptoms of Alzheimer disease like fluids in the brain, tumor, severe headache trauma, or stroke.

1. A Neurologist will be a great add to the team in the Intermediate Care Facility as he would offer uptick and relevant medical management to Raj’s memory loss issue. Besides my knowledge as a healthcare professional, the neurologist would help us diagnose the accurate cause of Alzheimer like symptoms that the patient shows which would in the end guide us on prescribing the correct medication to treat the disease.

Section 4: Specification of Professional Characteristics

As a health professional dealing with patients with memory loss symptoms, health professionals are expected to possess an innate set of attributes to deal with such patients to be able to perform their duties (Melissa, 2022), and these include;

Empathy

The episodes of a patient losing his memory can be disturbing, laughable, and concerning based on who is affected and your relationship to them. Knowing that Raj was the breadwinner of his small family and experiencing episodes of memory loss was heart wrenching to me; her grand-daughter and elderly wife all looking up to him in such a state was worrying of what would be fall them if Raj’s condition was prolonged. It was against this feeling of empathy that I decided to referral the patient to the Intermediate Care Facility to ensure that he obtained maximum care that would help alleviate his condition.

Communication Skills

As health professionals, we frequently work in high-testing situations; it is part of our routine to deal with patients, witnesses, and family members who sometimes maybe emotional, helpless, and with less mental capacities. Thus, our communications skills sometimes need to be honed beyond the verbal communication abilities. For example, in one of the intervention methods, I needed to use non-verbal cues like pointing to objects to assess Raj’s mental skills and functions whilst ensuring he understood what I meant.

Personal-Centered Attitude

Managing a patient with a memory loss disorder can somewhat is time consuming; it requires you to constantly monitor them, engage with them to ensure every activity they are doing is intended to help them improve. It is equal to conveying a holistic approach of care to someone you hardly know, but you have to ensure they improve on the course of their treatment; this takes in making friends with the patient, and caregivers to expedite their recovery process, and further ease any possible resistance they may show to your treatment plans.

Section 5: Patient-Centered Strategies

1. Personal-centered care for patients with dementia is an integrative and holistic approach that is intended to improve the quality of life of patients with dementia. This approach involves elements of care, the patient, the family, and the care givers (Kim, & Park, 2017). As is known, patients with dementia may not necessarily be prescribed medical regimens to help improve their conditions. On the contrary, it can sometimes take the form of therapy thereby requiring the coordinated efforts of the patients and their next of kin to develop an appropriate and fitting therapy regimen for the patient as discussed under the recommended interventions in section 2 of the case discussion.
2. Raj’s condition has been touching to me; an old infamous cosmetics parker losing memory and yet he is the sole breadwinner for his family. His consciousness and personality touched me and evoked my dedication to give him home-visit based patient-centered care services in my capacity. As such, I agreed with Ms. Aminah Singh wife and caregiver to Raj I will be visiting the patient every week to assess his recovery path and recommend appropriate therapy courses to help improve the patient’s condition. Second and last, I gave my phone number to Ms. Aminah and allowed them leeway to contact me at any time of the day upon their discharge from hospital regarding Raj’s health state; Raj can also check in the hospital at anytime he wishes to.

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