Caring for Clients with Dementia
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The Legislation
Enduring Power of Attorney Act
It is about anyone who is aged 18 or older who has the mental ability to make decisions for themselves can arrange for someone else to make these decisions for them in the future. This legal authority is called ‘power of attorney’. The person who is given power of attorney is known as the ‘attorney’. The person who is giving the power of attorney is known as the ‘donor’. There are three types of attorney. Under the Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) there are personal welfare LPA and property and affairs LPA. The Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) deals only with property and affairs. You can have more than one attorney for example someone can appoint attorneys to act jointly when making decisions over their money, but state that only one attorney , acting independently should decide where the person should live.
This is supports people with dementia because they may not have the mental capacity to make their own decisions so they may need someone to make their decisions for them.
Human Rights Act
The Human Rights Act 1998 came into force in the UK in October 2000. It is composed of a series of sections that have the effect of codifying the protections in the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law.
The Human Rights Act protects all of us. It protects the right to life, the prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment, protection against slavery and forced labour, the right to liberty and freedom, the right to liberty and freedom, the right to a fair trial and no punishment without law, respect for privacy and family life and the right to marry, freedom of thought, religion and belief, free speech and peaceful protest, no discrimination and protection of property. This supports dementia because it gives everyone basic rights and freedom.
Data Protection Act
The Data Protection Act controls how your personal information is used by organisations, businesses or the government. Everyone responsible for using data has to follow strict rules called ‘data protection principles’. They must make sure information is:

Used fairly and lawfully
Used for limited, specifically stated purposes
Used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive
Accurate
Kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary
Handled according to people’s data protection rights
Kept safe and secure
Not transferred outside the European Economic Area without adequate protection.
Mental Capacity Act
The Mental Capacity Act is designed to protect and empower individuals who may lack the mental capacity to make their own decisions about their care and treatment. It is a law that applies to individuals aged 16 or over. Examples of people who may lack capacity could include those with dementia, a severe learning disability, a brain injury, a mental health condition, a stroke or who are unconscious caused by an anaesthetic or sudden accident. But if someone has one of these conditions does not necessarily mean they lack capacity to make a specific decision. Some people may only lack capacity to make more complex decisions such as about their financial issues.
This supports people with dementia because it allows people to make decisions on their behalf.
National Dementia Strategy
The Alzheimer’s society worked closely with the government to develop this strategy. The strategy is the government’s plan which explains what needs to happen to radically transform the quality of life for people with dementia and their carers for the next five years. They set out 17 recommendations that the government wants the NHS, local authorities and others to take to improve dementia care services. The recommendations are focused on three key themes which are: Raising awareness and understanding, early diagnosis and support and Living well with dementia.

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A patient with dementia has a lot of people caring including doctors, home help, consultants, health care assistants, social workers and family. When working with people with dementia it is important to take a person-centred approach. Which involves placing the individual at the centre of any process, this will ensure that the service user has decision-making powers and therefore the service should fit their individual needs more appropriately, this is linked to the Mental Capacity Act which encourages people with dementia to make decisions for themselves. Service providers and workers may need to adapt their method of working to accommodate the users, such as changing meeting times or venues. Another example would be they may need to use ICT in activities for people with dementia, or change their environment to make dementia-friendly.
All of the Health and Social Care professional have to follow codes of practice. These codes of practice provide guidance as how you work within that profession. Examples include Nursing and Midwifery Council and General Social Care Council. There are also Charters which state what people can expect from a service such as the National Health Service. It is important when working with people with dementia that you provide positive working practices. By providing this it can make a positive impact on the person by building self-esteem. As well as Person-centred planning, treating clients with dignity and respect, allowing clients to have choice and independence, giving clients privacy and using preferred communication methods. Positive working practices include:
Anti-discriminatory practice - Ensuring that you avoid assumptions or stereotypical views about people. This may occur if you are assuming that all people are the same or stereotyping people. It is important to treat people as individuals, ensuring that they all have equal access to services and to challenge any discriminatory practice that may occur.
Empowering - this is about services users being able to make their own choices. Also when working with individuals with additional needs, it is important to ensure that as much as possible they have the power to make decisions or involve them in decisions that affect them.
Positive reinforcement - this is about identifying positive aspects of a person and strengthening the positive aspects of these. As a result this can change behaviour and by reinforcing positive behaviours the individual will experience an increased feeling of self-esteem which means they will be more likely to repeat those behaviours.
It is also important to assist in developing coping strategies. Meaning developing ways to cope with difficult situations or compromise within relationships. Doing this should have a positive impact upon an individuals self-esteem and self-concept.

M2 - Discuss the role of teamwork in improving the health and quality of life for people with dementia.
It is important that families and health care professionals must work together to transform dementia care. Families offer a link to their relative’s past and the time before they had dementia. It is important when shaping the care provided. For example a lady being scared to go to bed ever since she came into the home and when a family member visited they changed her bed cover to a multicoloured pattern. She has been afraid to go to bed because the white bed sheets in the home has reminded her of her time of working in hospitals and it made her that fearful she was hospitalised.
By spending time with this lady and her loved ones, observing, interacting and reminiscing, the staff in that home had gained knowledge, not just to improve her sleeping patterns but to ensure that every aspect of her care never related to her experience of hospitals.
This shows that when families and professionals work together if often creates a holistic model of care. Family and friends can also benefit from the support and knowledge that professionals caring for their loved one can provide in challenging times. Any divide between professionals and families works directly against the best interests of the most important person in the equation which is the person living with dementia.
Collaborative care is also important between caregivers and psychiatrists for nursing home residents 55 years or older with severe psychiatric or behavioural problems. When working in multidisciplinary teams it showed there was significant improvement in agitation and aggression in the home. Working in multidisciplinary teams also mean that treatment is more individualised.
Care providers also work with the family when they are developing their care plans because it is important that the care plans are based on an assessment of the person with dementia’s life history, social and family circumstance and preferences as well as their physical and mental health needs and current levels of functioning and abilities. This gives the care providers a good idea on how to care for the person with dementia and what to avoid. Formal reviews of the care plan would be done when agreed between healthcare professionals involved and the person with dementia and/or carers and recorded in the notes.

D1 - Evaluate how different approaches to caring for people with dementia can affect individual outcomes.

References
NHS Choices (2015) Giving someone power of attorney. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/Pages/lasting-power-of-attorney.aspx Liberty (2015) The Human Rights Act. Available at: https://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/human-rights/what-are-human-rights/human-rights-act GOV (2015) Data protection. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/the-data-protection-act Choices (2015) What is the Mental Capacity Act. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/social-care-and-support-guide/pages/mental-capacity.aspxHS Alzheimer’s Society (2015) National Dementia Strategy. Available at: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/ndse Community Care (2015) Adult Care Blog. Available at: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/adult-care-blog/2012/11/families-and-professionals-must-work-together-to-transform-dementia-care/ PMC (2011) Clinical features and multidisciplinary approaches to dementia care. Available at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3104685/