1. Out of an elderly population of 52,128, a good 4,000 suffer from Dementia
2. A 90 year old person has a 33% chance of developing the condition
The Ministry for Social Policy, together with the Secretariat for the Elderly and Community Care has recently organized training courses for persons interested in the field of Dementia Care. These courses were a European Social Fund (ESF) project, and were part of the Structural Funds Program for Malta 2004-2008 of the European Union. The Project Leader was Dr. Ray Xerri.
The first training course, inaugurated by Dr. Stephanie Xuereb, Director of the Department for the Elderly & Community Care and Ms. Marjorie Bonello, Project Manager comprised a selective attendance of about 30 participants per session.
The training courses were purposely targeted for all those involved in caring for people with Dementia including different grades of health care professionals. In fact, a number of those who participated were Nursing Managers, Nursing Officers, Head of Services and Enrolled Nurses respectively.
The main themes of the courses, which were held this month, were ‘Implementing person-centered practices’ and ‘Dementia Care Nursing – Promoting best practice in Malta’ respectively.
The overall aim of the project was to improve the quality of care offered to people with Dementia, and to promote the best practices. Certificates were presented to each participant by Dr. Stephanie Xuereb, Director of the Department for the Elderly and Community Care, at the end of each course.
Following the success of these courses, three more training sessions will be organized during the 3rd week of September regarding the same subject. The discussed themes will be exploring the implementation of practices focused around the person, awareness about the Dementia condition itself, and care practices of Dementia from a personal perspective.
Dementia is nowadays becoming increasingly more common as people are living longer lives. A 90 year old person has a 33% chance of developing the condition.
In Malta, it is estimated that out of an elderly population of 52,128, a good 4,000 suffer from Dementia. What might sound alarming is the fact that the number of people suffering from the condition will be nearly doubled within 20 years as worldwide progress in the health sector is increasing longevity.
Journalists from the Communications Unit of the Department for the Elderly and Community Care had the opportunity to follow closely the training courses and interview some of the main speakers and also participants.
Rodianne Zammit reported some of the comments given by Ms. Shirley Law, Project Leader/ Associate Trainer at the Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling. Law, who has been in the field for the past 30 years, said that Dementia is a chronic or progressive mental condition which gets worse by time.
No cure has yet been found for this condition which keeps aggravating until the patients’ last minutes. At the opening of the training course, Law remarked that her main aim is to give out the best information possible to the participants, empowering them to make a difference once they return to their work place. She added that it is the understanding and acceptance attitude of the persons working with Dementia patients that makes the latter feel less frustrated.
In both courses, the participants were given out booklets which contained the information that was being given out all along, and also several exercises about how both a patient suffering with Dementia, and the nurse or assistant might feel. While doing these exercises participants were asked to keep a particular patient in mind in order to understand even better. The participants were later shown a video and asked to observe who the characters suffering from Dementia were.
Ms. Zammit also interviewed some of the participants who contributed in the sessions. As a general observation it seems that Dementia in Malta is increasing considerably by time. The participants noted that these courses were very important, both for themselves who offer assistance, and for their patients who receive it.
They got to widen their knowledge and clarify information which was previously lacking. Three young nurses said that they now learnt which approach to use with their patients, and may also identify different types of Dementia.
A staff nurse from St. Vincent de Paul Residence added that prior to this course it was difficult to distinguish between Dementia, Delirium and Depression. Yet, these courses helped in teaching these nurses several skills. An enrolled nurse for the Mtarfa Elderly Home pointed out that after these two days of training he can now empathize better with his patients.
Ms. Marjorie Bonello, Project Manager of the ESF said that she is glad that this training, which was organized through European Union funds, was of great success. She added that she would like to see the implementation of the useful information given out by the lecturers for an improvement in Dementia Care.
Ms. Corinne Coleiro also interviewed Mr. Alan Chapman, Education and Training Director at the Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling. He remarked that after 17 years of experience in working with senior staff teams, it was a very interesting opportunity for him to be here in Malta working with the managers of Elderly residences. His main target was to help them create opportunities for the staff to develop and implement best practice in this field.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Department for the Elderly and Community Care, Dr. Stephanie Xuereb also commented on the event by stating that “this training seminar was a success because, first of all it has brought people together. We had two groups here, we had the managers and we had the nurses, and in both groups people were given the opportunity to, first of all, learn about Dementia, and also their approach when dealing with persons suffering from Dementia.”
Dr. Xuereb also stated that the main emphasis of the courses was on a patient centered approach which is a very challenging task to implement in large organizations. However, these courses gave the participants the opportunity to share experiences and difficulties, and broaden their horizons on the subject thorough each other’s and the trainers’ knowledge. Dr. Xuereb added that it is now up to the people who were in the courses to take on what they have learned and keep this ongoing learning curve.
As already stated above, the training courses about Dementia Care will proceed in September on a general request. In these sessions more speakers and participants from various entities will continue to explore and develop the discussed themes in order to increase local awareness about Dementia Care. Anyone interested in becoming more acquainted with the condition may get further information online by accessing the website www.dementia.stir.ac.uk [1]