Florida Department of Elder Affairs plays a major role in managing and addressing a number of aspects of elderly care, but most importantly, dementia. The department is not considered as an assisted living care or a care program but as a more encompassing organization, which also includes a monitoring and research facility. Dementia is a memory loss disorder that primarily affects older individuals, and it occurs due to the aging process abnormalities in the brain.
The main method of contact is the Florida Department of Elder Affairs website, where people can learn key information about dementia and its causes and prevention approaches. In addition, the website contains a number of options for providing care for older adults with dementia. These assistance methods are different from assisted living because they are focused on memory care. This specific or individual help contains useful technological approaches in aiding patients with severe memory loss.
In general, there is a wide range of programs and services available on the website, such as the Alzheimer’s disease initiative, Disaster Preparedness, and Health and Wellness. The website provides complete and up-to-date information on dementia in a highly accessible format. The department can be contacted by email on the website or by calling toll-free Elder Helpline, which is 1-800-963-5337. If traditional email is required, it is [email protected], where interested people can ask the relevant questions.
The website visitors can easily obtain useful data and tools for understanding the clinical picture of the main forms of dementia. Dementia syndrome is characterized by the presence of pronounced disorders of higher brain functions, the clinical features of which are directly related to the etiology of dementia. With the most common nosological variant of dementia – Alzheimer’s disease (AD) – the first and main symptom of the disease is progressive forgetfulness (Andrews, McInerney, Toye, Parkinson, & Robinson, 2017).
Memory impairments initially affect the events of the near past, and as the disease progresses, they extend to more distant events of life. Along with the increase in memory disorders, other cognitive impairments are observed to join (Tabloski, 2014). Difficulties of spatial orientation and pathogenetically closely related disorders of constructive and kinesthetic praxis are typical for AD. Speech disturbances are also characteristic.
Elderly age is the most significant risk factor for the development of cognitive impairment and dementia. According to epidemiological data, the prevalence of dementia among people over 65 is 3 to 8% (Andrews et al., 2017). The well-known demographic tendency towards an increase in the proportion of older people in the population makes the problem of dementia highly urgent both for health care and for society as a whole. The medical, social, economic, and emotional issues associated with dementia and a heavy burden fall on both patients with this symptom complex and their relatives and society as a whole.
The diagnostic search for dementia involves two main steps. The first step is the objectification of cognitive impairment, which is necessary to confirm the syndromic diagnosis of dementia. For this purpose, in addition to general clinical research methods, analysis of complaints, and patient history, neuropsychological tests are used. For the screening diagnosis of dementia, a brief scale for assessing the mental status and a clock drawing test has proven best (Andrews et al., 2017).
These tests are easy to use and interpret and allow you to quantify the severity of cognitive impairment and, therefore, are suitable not only for the initial diagnosis but also for monitoring the patient in dynamics.
In conclusion, it should be noted that dementia should no longer be seen as an incurable condition. However, the Florida Department of Elder Affairs can provide a great deal of assistance in both educating the caregivers and helping patients with dementia. It is important to conduct the correct diagnosis of the nosological form of dementia and the timely appointment of pathogenetic therapy. Although they do not completely solve the problem, these measures contribute to a significant improvement in the quality of life in most cases of this severe and common syndrome.
References
Andrews, S., McInerney, F., Toye, C., Parkinson, C. A., & Robinson, A. (2017). Knowledge of dementia: Do family members understand dementia as a terminal condition? Dementia, 16(5), 556-575.
Tabloski, P. (2014). Gerontological nursing (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Health Science.