Key Question- How can we help dementia

• How many people were estimated to have dementia in the UK in 2015?

  850,000
• What is the projected number of dementia cases in the UK by 2025?

  1,000,000
• What type of problem is dementia classified as?

  A progressive problem with processing information
• What abilities decline in a person with dementia?

  Thinking, understanding, and remembering
• How does dementia affect older people's information processing compared to younger people?

  It is an extreme case of slower processing
• What are some symptoms of dementia?

  Forgetfulness, trouble multi-tasking, severe disorientation
• Why is it important to help those with dementia?

  There is no cure or treatment available
• How does dementia affect Short Term Memory (STM)?

  STM is significantly affected by dementia
• Why does forgetting occur in dementia patients?

  Information is never encoded into STM
• How can we assist dementia patients with tasks?

  By giving them reminders and notes
• What happens to the Central Executive in dementia patients according to WMM?

  It declines, causing attention difficulties
• What is a recommended strategy for helping dementia patients focus?

  Give them one task at a time
• What might cause a dementia patient to say confusing things?

  Their schemas may be muddled
• How should communication be structured with dementia patients?

  Limit the number of people talking at once
• How can cues help dementia patients?

  They can remind them of correct schemas
• What happens to episodic memory in dementia patients over time?

  Episodic memory decreases while semantic remains stable
• How does the fading of episodic memory progress in dementia?

  Starts in the present and spreads to the past
• Why can dementia patients remember long-ago information?

  Because episodic memory fades from the present
• What is validation therapy in dementia care?

  Making situations close to their familiar past
• What did Baddeley et al (2001) find about Alzheimer's patients?

  They performed worse on difficult attentional tasks
• What did Jahn (2013) discover about LTM and WMM in Alzheimer's patients?

  Both decline quickly with Alzheimer's onset
• What characterizes autobiographical recall in Alzheimer's patients according to Mohamad (2016)?


  Loss of associated episodic information
• What does Peterson and Peterson's research suggest about rehearsal and distraction?

  Rehearsal without distraction aids LTM transfer
• What are the key symptoms of dementia over time?

  • Forgetfulness
  • Trouble multi-tasking
  • Fluctuating disorientation
  • Diminished insight
  • Difficulty learning new things
  • Severe disorientation to time and place
  • Loss of short-term memory
  • Loss of speech
• What are the implications of the Multi-Store Model (MSM) and Working Memory Model (WMM) for dementia care?

  • MSM: Focus on encoding information into STM
  • WMM: Address decline in Central Executive
  • Provide reminders and limit tasks to one at a time
• What are the effects of episodic and semantic memory in dementia?

  • Episodic memory decreases over time
  • Semantic memory remains fairly stable
  • Validation therapy can help manage confusion
• What evidence supports the decline of memory functions in dementia?

  • Baddeley et al (2001): Difficult tasks show central executive issues
  • Jahn (2013): Quick decline in LTM and WMM
  • Mohamad (2016): Autobiographical recall loses episodic context
  • Peterson and Peterson: Rehearsal aids LTM transfer