See Change: Think Pain

napp pain imageIt is thought that as many as three in four people living in care homes may be in pain at any one time. It is one of the major challenges when providing care to someone with dementia… if a person is unable to communicate in the conventional manner, how can you tell when they are in pain?

It is increasingly understood that many of the challenging behaviours associated with dementia may be a result of the patient experiencing pain, but struggling to communicate this.

Napp Pharmaceuticals Limited undertook a programme of quantitative and qualitative research, gathering information, thoughts and perspectives from a sample of independently owned care and nursing homes across the UK.

Read the report on their findings and recommendations here: See Change Think Pain Napp Report

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When opportunities for pleasure are rare, food needs to be taken seriously.

There are increasing efforts to improve the quality of food in care homes, but if a resident cannot experience the taste or smell of what’s on offer, they are unlikely to be enthused about eating, however appetising it looks and whatever its nutritional value.

Research suggests that people living with Alzheimer’s Disease can still identify sweet and salty tastes, whereas their ability to recognise sour and bitter is impaired. Similar results were recorded in healthy people of the same age. On the other hand, unlike the healthy elderly adults in the trial, those with Alzheimer’s demonstrated a lack of ability in identifying odours, and it has long been understood that your sense of smell can have an impact on appetite.

Read the full research article by clicking here.

That inspired me to search further, and of course there’s a host of information on the importance of a good diet for those living with dementia such as Alzheimer’s Society’s Eating_and_drinking_factsheet.

Then Ode’s award-winning product caught my eye, offering a method of stimulating appetite through releasing smells: it creates the link between the power of scent and its effect on our relationship with food. There are three scents in an ode and you decide when each comes on, around preferred mealtimes and daily routines. See more on the Ode website.

What I liked most was the suggestion in The Journal of Dementia Care’s Jan/Feb issue that an alcoholic drink can stimulate appetite. Show me a care home with a decent wine list and I’m booking in!

 

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Getting to know each other

Carer's Chart

We’re always going on about the importance of needing to know about a resident’s needs and preferences, but what about your staff? Might they like to share what they like and dislike, and might they learn something from the exercise as well?

Encourage your staff to share what matters to them by completing one of these free charts. With everyone’s agreement, display them where other staff, residents and their families can see them, creating an opportunity to appreciate what is important to each other. Generate a sense of mutual respect throughout your community, and create opportunities for meaningful interaction between every member of that community.

If you are using our Care Charts for your residents you will see that we have used the same symbols* as those on the resident’s charts. This helps make the point that we are all similar in having needs and preferences, that whether we are a carer or someone being cared for, we all have things in our lives that can cause pleasure or distress.

Download as many copies of the Carers Chart A4 as you need, encourage your staff to share, and develop the relationship and mutual respect between staff and residents and their families. Indeed, it may be appropriate to invite family members to participate as well.

And if you’re not already using our Care Charts for your residents, give us a call now, on 01403 210485, or email enquiries@carechartsuk.co.uk for further information.

*If you are using Style 2 and would like a Carer’s Chart in the same style please send us a request via email to enquiries@carechartsuk.co.uk.

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