The following course will educate healthcare providers (HCP) on the cognitive, behavioral, and functional manifestations of middle-stage dementia. Additionally, this course contains nonpharmacologic suggestions to manage the symptoms of middle-stage dementia. Lastly, this course addresses the numerous safety concerns that arise during middle-stage dementia.
What You Will Learn:
- The clinical manifestations of middle-stage dementia
- The behavioral and psychological manifestations commonly observed during middle-stage dementia
- The Describe, Investigate, Create, and Evaluate (DICE) Model for managing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD)
- Safety concerns for persons living with a middle-stage dementia diagnosis
Details
Course length: 1 hour and 30 minutes; CEU: 1.5
Languages: American English
Key features: audio narration, learning activity, post-assessment
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Clinical Manifestations of Middle-Stage Dementia
There are many common clinical manifestations among all types of dementia during the middle stage. It is important to note that there is no designated time period for how long each stage lasts. The rate of progression is individual to the patient and dependent on factors such as the underlying cause of dementia or comorbid conditions. Additionally, the symptoms that occur depend on what is causing the dementia in the first place. Currently, no clinical tests exist to measure when a person has moved from the early to middle stage of dementia. However, over time, persons living with dementia have greater memory and functioning problems. Additionally, they will struggle in performing instrumental activities of daily living, also known as IADL. Vascular dementia will have different manifestation depending on the portion of the brain affected. Vascular dementia generally has some commonalities with Alzheimer’s disease, though.
Alzheimer’s Disease
There are symptoms specific to patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The middle-stage of Alzheimer’s disease is often much longer than the early or late stages. Cognitive decline becomes more apparent, even to people who don’t know the patient that well. Over time, the patient will have increasing memory problems and distinct changes in personality.
Care for Persons with Middle-Stage Dementia
People in the middle-stage of dementia will typically need assistance in personal care tasks, such as getting dressed. The care partner may notice greater cognitive impairments and more behavior changes. Some common personality changes that occur during middle-stage dementia include rage and suspiciousness. Therefore, people living with dementia may have difficulty participating in social events or outings. Changes or accommodations can be made to make the outing more enjoyable for the person living with dementia. Large group outings should be avoided to prevent sensory overload. Additionally, dementia patients are known to repeat questions or actions.
Psychiatric manifestations in the form of delusions can also occur. All of these changes lead to serious safety considerations that the care partner must make.
For example, dementia patients should not be allowed to drive. The home might need to be modified in order to be safer for the individual. Additionally, persons living with dementia will need help managing their medications and prescriptions.
