District 18 News
Written by: Zeng Fengting
2020-10-22 10:00
Last update date: 2020-10-22 10:00
The ageing population has always been one of the great challenges facing Hong Kong.
According to data from the Census and Statistics Department, the population will continue to age, the most rapidly in the next 10 years.
The proportion of elderly persons aged 65 and above is estimated to increase from 17% in 2016 to 31% in 2036.
In Hong Kong, the proportion of people over 65 years old suffering from dementia in the total population of the same age is estimated to be 5% to 8%, and the prevalence rate of people over 80 years old is estimated to be 20% to 30%.
Hong Kong people generally live long lives, and the proportion of people who are expected to suffer from dementia will increase accordingly.
In order to effectively solve this problem, some organizations have launched a dementia support plan to enable patients and carers to have sufficient capacity to deal with the current situation, and hope to expand the plan to the whole of Hong Kong, and eventually every district will have the same type of support.
Many people do not know how to deal with dementia when they find that their family members have dementia.
I worry that they will forget themselves one day, but also feel that dementia is an irreversible disease. I feel that they can only wait for time to pass and the day when their lives end.
In the end, what else can the caregiver do?
In fact, dementia is mainly divided into four categories, each of which has its own characteristics, such as forgetting things, caused by stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure and other diseases, and some are caused by damage to the frontal lobe. Unacceptable behavior, the patient's control ability has problems, and the patient may also have delusions and hallucinations.
However, if the type is found at an early stage, interventional therapy can be effectively targeted at the characteristics of the patient.
It is important for patients to maintain communication and language skills in the early stage of collaboration
Although dementia affects the patient's memory, does it mean that their learning ability will also disappear?
In fact, patients can still learn through brain regions, and the most important thing is to retain their communication skills to the greatest extent.
Cui Zhiwen, chief training consultant for the Jockey Club Senior Citizens Park and dementia care expert, pointed out that if patients lose the ability to communicate, they are prone to misunderstandings in life, and caregivers may not understand their ideas.
Cui Zhiwen believes that we must first understand the world that patients understand and their needs in order to collaborate with them.
(Photo by Zeng Fengting)
Cui Zhiwen believes that we must first understand the world that patients understand and their needs in order to collaborate with them.
He believes that some trained social workers and patients' family members can do some speech training for the patients first.
Because older patients with dementia are affected by their education level and do not know much vocabulary, after the diagnosis of dementia, they may have more limited vocabulary to express themselves.
Speech training can retain their language ability to the greatest extent.
"Maybe they only have one vocabulary to express happiness. We will teach them a few more to enrich their vocabulary. Even if they forget later, the remaining words will be enough to express themselves."
Cui Zhiwen believes that it is important to help some early patients maintain their communication and language skills.
(Photo by Zeng Fengting)
Kate Swaffer, 61, the founder of the International Dementia Federation, was diagnosed with dementia when she was 49 years old.
At the beginning, she did not accept her diagnosis, and even cried at home for several months, but after the diagnosis, she actually had a lot of insights about dementia.
She believes that when people around you are found to be suffering from dementia, you do not need to deliberately label them, "their status in life has not changed. On the contrary, we should have a good understanding of the symptoms of dementia and the support they need."
Kate has coexisted with dementia for 12 years. She is an earlier patient. After receiving proper care, her life is basically the same as that of ordinary people.
During the interview, she didn't have any problems with her expressive skills, but sometimes forgot to ask questions.
(Respondents provide pictures)
People who come here encourage patients to be brave enough to express their views
She encouraged patients to listen to their own voices and reminded family members not to worry too much.
"If a child often helps when his parents are in trouble, he will not learn it. The same applies to our patients, so caregivers must trust the patient and let him do it."
In addition, she also mentioned that family collaboration is also very important.
"Family takes care of me, instead of stopping me from doing everything."
She recalled that when she discovered that she was ill, the elder son was more resistant, while the younger son was more receptive. So they discussed with her father and discussed each person's position and role in this matter together.
She also encouraged patients not to feel ashamed of being sick, but to bravely express their opinions.
Guo Zhirui, a professor of the Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and director of the Jockey Club Senior Citizens’ Park, said, “It’s also very difficult to take patients to see a doctor. The government has to wait one to two years. Affordable, plus not every elderly person is willing to be evaluated."
(Photo by Zeng Fengting)
In response to Kate’s situation and other research on patients with dementia, the Jockey Club Senior Citizen has formulated the "Go with the Senior" dementia support plan.
The aim is to identify early dementia patients and provide them with appropriate support.
Guo Zhirui, professor of the Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and director of the Jockey Club Senior Citizens' Park, pointed out that the project mainly cooperates with 4 organizations to support people over 50 years of age who are suspected of having mild cognitive impairment, early diagnoses and their caregivers. And use family intervention (that is, improve the knowledge and care skills of caregivers in different forms) and empowerment models.
The plan also advocates "early detection, early diagnosis, and early intervention". It is hoped that early patients will receive appropriate treatment to prevent rapid deterioration of the disease.
Introduced the "Zhihuomin" program to help potential patients seek medical attention as soon as possible
Guo Zhirui also understands that if the family members find and suspect that the victim is suffering from dementia, the threshold for taking them for treatment is relatively high. "At present, it is very difficult to take the patient to see a doctor. The government has to wait 1 to 2 years. It's not that everyone can afford it, and not every elderly person is willing to be evaluated."
Therefore, the "Zhi Huo Min Zhi" program was launched for use by caregivers. "In the past, the programs that existed in the market had to be used with the assistance of a special person, while "Zhi Huo Min Zhi" did not need to be accompanied by family members, or knew how Elderly people who use smart phones can also do their own assessment."
The entire evaluation process only takes 5 minutes and is free of charge. If the evaluation result is not up to the standard, they can contact the cooperating organization themselves for assistance.
The program is expected to be launched in December. During the test period, the accuracy rate was as high as 80%.
It is expected that there will be 10,000 users after the launch, and among them, it is estimated that about 4,000 will be diagnosed by the collaborative organization and its private doctors, and about 1,000 will participate in the follow-up support plan.
Ms. Ho, who has benefited from the plan, believes that the plan helps her understand dementia and how to take care of her mother.
She recalled that her mother had problems in 2018, "I knew she was a little different at the time, but I didn't know what happened."
She said that when she discovered that her mother had a problem, it was because her father was traveling and her mother had not traveled because of a cold. "At that time, my sister and I took turns to accompany her, but she often asked us the same question, "When will my dad be back?". I didn't think at first. If there is a problem, she will ask more than once every day when she sees us, and in the end, even if the day is circled on the calendar, she will ask again.
Ms. He discovered that her mother had a problem in 2018, and later asked the Sage Garden for help.
The mother's condition is relatively stable now, and she can even go out to buy vegetables on her own occasionally.
(Photo by Zeng Fengting)
Later, her mother even lost her way on the way to buy breakfast for many years, and Miss He began to think that things were not easy.
"Because a friend of my mother told me at the time that she did not borrow money from her, but my mother sent the money to him. In addition, I tried saying that someone pointed at her and cursed, but my father was always by her side and didn't see anything like that happening." .
It took several months from being suspected to being formally diagnosed with early dementia.
At first, Ms. He thought that her mother missed her grandmother who had just passed away, so she took her mother to seek counseling from a social worker, but her mother always resisted seeing a social worker, thinking that seeing a social worker was a "silly line" person.
In the end, Miss He took her to see a specialist on the grounds that her mother had a cold, only to find out that she was very nervous in this regard.
Introduced by friends from social workers, Ms. He finally went to the Senior Citizen Garden for help.
The Senior Citizen Garden provides free services, and the doctors who collaborate with them are all trained and private doctors are located in various districts.
Ms. Ho said that her 70-year-old mother is now in a stable condition. "After participating in the program, she feels that her mother is degrading more slowly. There is no major problem in her life, and she can occasionally buy food on her own."
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