I was invited to answer the question, “what does rehabilitation mean to me?” For me, rehabilitation for people living with dementia means helping people to live their lives in the best way possible. As an Occupational Therapist, I spend my days concerned with how people are able to do the activities (occupations) that they want and need to do. Working in an Older Adults Mental Health Service, that often means considering how dementia and/or another mental health condition, such as depression or anxiety, is affecting the way that someone is living their life.
Many people seem to think of rehabilitation as being for other conditions, not dementia. Perhaps, they view it as a process to get someone back to how they were before an injury and appreciate that dementia cannot yet be cured. However, I think about rehabilitation as a way to make the most of a person’s skills and abilities and minimise the difficulties that their dementia is causing, helping them to do what matters to them. For every person, that is different. I can find myself supporting someone to change their environment so that they can make a hot drink or I might be looking at ways to get them back to the gym or a new voluntary role.
A core part of my work is using “Occupational Therapy Home Based Memory Rehabilitation” which is an evidence based early intervention which aims to compensate for memory difficulties by adapting the home environment and introducing memory aids and strategies. I enjoy exploring the use of everyday technology, such as smart watches and voice activated assistants to increase people’s confidence and independence.
We also use these strategies within our “Active Minds” group where people with dementia come together with a friend or partner to learn how to live well with their diagnosis. During these groups, it has been so emotional to see people becoming less fearful of their diagnosis and having the confidence to go along to new activities.
However, it is important to also think about rehabilitation for other conditions when someone is living with dementia, for example a hip fracture or knee replacement. Dementia changes how we, as professionals, have to approach rehabilitation but it does not make it impossible. Ideas for maximising rehabilitation for people living with dementia include:
- Using reminders and alarms to prompt a person to complete their recommended exercises or activities
- Leaving essential items in a visible place for that person
- Involving care partners in treatment sessions so that they feel more skilled to prompt and support at home
- Providing written and visual reminders of what has been discussed in a session
- Setting reminders or writing future appointments in calendars or diaries
- Making sure that your therapeutic environment is inclusive of dementia design principles
People can, and do, live well in their communities long after a diagnosis of dementia. Allied Health Professionals, such as Occupational Therapists, have a crucial role to play in supporting them to do that and it is my favourite part of my job.
Contributor: Angela Pointon, Specialist Occupational Therapist / Joint AHP lead for Dementia for NHS Grampian.
Since the publication of our first allied health professional dementia policy document in Scotland, Connecting People Connecting Support (Alzheimer Scotland 2017) we have debated, advocated and delivered dementia rehabilitation informed by three sources of evidence: research, clinical practice and the voice of lived experience. We shared in our second report (Alzheimer Scotland 2020) examples of dementia rehabilitation and in our third report (Alzheimer Scotland 2024) we highlight there is a rehabilitation gapthatmust be filled, with a need to increase awareness of what dementia rehabilitation is, how it has a positive impact on people with lived experience and also services, and there is a need to apply the evidence of dementia rehabilitation in practice. As an allied health professional dementia community, with our many partners, colleagues and friends, we are therefore going to share a number of blogs posts over the next 12 months on rehabilitation and dementia, answering the simple question
“What does rehabilitation mean to you?
You can read our first blog in the series here
You can read the second blog by Jenny, speech and language therapist here
You can read the third blog by Morna, occupational therapist here
You can read the fourth blog by Kirsty, occupational therapist here
