For some of the people you look after a degree of confusion, caused by anxiety and agitation, can impact on their day to day life.
Introduction to person centred dementia support
Person centred dementia support Tier 2
Developing and supporting dementia care Tier 3
Dementia Resources
A range of short resources that can be used for staff training or to support supervision and appraisal or as resources for providers developing their own training.
*Please note that advertisements played on YouTube links provided in this resource library are in no way endorsed or selected by Leeds City Council and do not reflect the views of the organisation.
The Alzheimer’s Society provides guidance for individuals providing care to people with dementia including the impact of delirium on people with dementia.
Skills for Care have published a guide giving best practice case studies from domiciliary care employers developing their workforces to support people with dementia. Better domiciliary care for people with dementia
The University of East Anglia have also produced a guide book which is free to download and is created for carers who assist a person with a dementia with their personal care. This booklet was developed as part of the Alzheimer’s Society funded Pro-CARE study, which was undertaken at the University of East Anglia.
The booklet is available on the link below, please do share with any family carers, care-home staff or dementia support organisations you feel may benefit from the resource.
There are also a range of resources around developing dementia friendly environments.
In the case of someone’s own home the following are useful for individual and families as well as home care providers to give advice.
Alzheimer's Society; Making your home dementia friendly (PDF)
The Open University have produced 7 videos in their design for dementia that covers a wide variety of areas
My Life TV – Stimulating activities, joyful entertainment and calming content for people living with dementia and their carers.
Created by award winning dementia charity My Life Films, My Life TV has programmes and content curated for the cognitive needs of people living with the condition – accessed on tv, tablet, phone or laptop.
It’s a fantastic tool for activity providers and care givers;
My Life TV partner with many prestigious organisations including the Alzheimer’s Society, NAPA, British Film Institute, British Pathé and more. They also create bespoke quizzes, sing-alongs, chair yoga, music therapy & reminiscence sessions
Arts4Dementia is a charity organisation developing arts activities to inspire and re-energise people living with dementia and their carers in the community.
Alzhiemers Scotland have produced a useful booklet Activities - a guide for carers of people with dementia However, please note that some of the telephone numbers are for Scottish organisations and therefore are not relevant for those working outside of Scotland.
Rapid changes in someone's dementia may be a sign of infection or delirium.
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) provides a guide to delirium External li
The guide is extremely useful in identifying and supporting people with delirium and it is linked to a short interactive web resource. External
Delirium is a temporary condition caused by a number of factors such as infections that can make these symptoms worse or cause such symptoms in people who are otherwise healthy and orientated.
Unlike dementia, the onset of delirium may be sudden and temporary. It is treatable if recognised early and appropriate treatment provided.
People with dementia are at greater risk of developing delirium. Sudden changes should always be taken notice of. These should be recorded and passed to a senior member of staff.
Caring for a person with confusion
Dealing with people suffering from confusion on a day to day basis is very similar for both dementia and delirium. Failure to recognise the difference between them could mean the person doesn't get the correct treatment.
Check the individual’s records to see if any deterioration has been noted over the last hours or days.
If there is a medical emergency, ring 999.
Make a note of other changes identified in the record such as:
If the person gets severely ill ring the resident's GP and request a visit (or call 111). Always provide as much information as possible about what has happened, what has changed, how has the person deteriorated, and how the resident now appears.
Always check care plans and make sure you understand the person. Some things to help you with this can be to see:
You should:
You should consider
NHS England have published guidance for supporting people who may have swallowing difficulties in dementia.
Give feedback and let us know if this page was helpful
