Australias first ever set of practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of dementia have been developed to help fill the gaps between the provisions of good and poor quality dementia care throughout Australia.
The Clinical Practice Guidelines and Principles of Care for People with Dementia, which will be officially launched by Health Minister Sussan Ley on Wednesday March 16, advises how dementia diagnoses, treatment, patient reviews and care must be conducted.
It contains 109 recommendations wrestling with some of the more controversial aspects of dementia care, like the use of antipsychotics and clinicians telling patients that memory loss is just a consequence of ageing.
·Rethinking antipsychotic use: The misuse and overuse of psychotropic drugs can cause death.
·Ageism and memory loss myths: Despite ongoing education about dementia, there are some medical professionals and people in the community who still believe the memory loss is just a normal part of ageing.
·Culturally-specific dementia care: It is important that people with dementia get culturally specific support.
·Family involvement in care: The new guidelines recommend that clinicians include carers and families in the planning, decision making and care and management of people with dementia.
