The Development of Caregivers’ Community Engagement-based Guidelines for Elderly People with Dementia

Abstract

This article stems from the research on the elderly with dementia in Thailand, and discusses 3 key issues: (1) Lack of knowledge on elderly people with dementia is the main factor for providing effective care for them. It was found that 76.6% of the caregivers had no knowledge of dementia. 51.1% of the elderly were able to help themselves in daily life. and the care process has 3 aspects, physical care, social and environmental, and psychological care. 2) According to the study with participatory methods through the AIC process, there were 4 groups of caregivers: family members, mostly children, hired caregivers, the medical care team, and community comprising of a group of public health volunteers and nurses (3) Development of caregiver’s community engagement-based guidelines for elderly people with dementia needs collaboration from all relevant partners such as government, private and civil society sectors. Home visit for both emergency and non-emergency cases is a method to take care of patients. It is necessary to prepare for the home visit. During the home visit, the physical, mental, and environmental assessment of the family must be assessed to diagnose disease in order to provide appropriate assistance. After the home visit, records must be made on a home visit record form. There are two types of care dimensions: structured and non-structured care. There are three modes of care: care from family members, community care and supervision from medical units. Therefore, cooperation among many parties, namely the families of the sick elderly, the community, both public and private agencies, and hospitals is necessary for appropriate and effective dementia care system for the elderly in Thailand.