Contemporary Issues in Healthcare Policy and Practice

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
IN HEALTHCARE POLICY
AND PRACTICE
TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................3
MAINBODY................................................................................................................................3
Key issues of dementia............................................................................................................3
2. Critical analysis of the key issues identified within dementia services in national and local
area...........................................................................................................................................5
3. Two approaches for the dementia........................................................................................9
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Dementia refers as the group of symptoms which affects memory, thinking and social
capacities that is enough to disturb daily life. Dementia have 200 subtypes of dementia in
which five are the most common i.e. Alzheimer's disease, Vascular dementia, front temporal
dementia, mixed dementia and dementia along with Lewy bodies (Marinker and Capra,
2018). It involves in memory loss and it contains different causes i.e. Alzheimer's disease. It is
chronic disease which takes long time to treat. There is an example of London Borough to
understand dementia statics in UK. This report covers Key issues which is affiliated from
dementia. It includes Core aspect of dementia in health and social care both national and
international area.
MAINBODY
Key issues of dementia
Dementia is major issue for the UK because there are 850,000 peoples lives with
dementia which arise more than 1 million in 2021. The main issues with dementia is that it
shows two type symptoms i.e. early symptoms and late symptoms.
Early symptoms:
Loss of memory: It initially affects short term memory. For example person forgets
that what happen earlier in a day and unable to recall conversation, but long term memory is
quite good.
Mood change: Peoples who suffer from dementia are mood swing type. For example,
they sometime frightened, sad and angry. None can't understand what will happen to them in
next moment.
Communication problem: Peoples unable to communicate with other people due to
difficulty in finding right words for particular things. i.e. they want to tell about product name,
but they describe function of the product.
Later symptoms:
In later phase of dementia, People get problem during executing daily task and become
dependent on other persons. In simple word can say brain is damaged by some disease such as
Alzheimer disease or by small strokes.
Statistics

Barking and Dagenham are a main borough of London, UK. There are over 36 cases of
dementia per 10.000 population means 0.36% (Dementia. 2016) Diagnosis rate of dementia is
quite good which is estimated 66.6%. Dementia disease is mostly found in 65 aged peoples. T
Key issues in UK
In London, estimated 64,600 people with dementia. Almost 2/3 people with dementia
lives in community while 1/3 lives in care home ( Reedy, 2020). According to statics data of
London finds that 7.3% of London's population is suffered from dementia disease and aged 65
year population ratios are heightened.
Heath and social care services in National and local area
Local area
Barking and Dagenham doesn't have good social care service than comparison healthcare due
to some issues i.e.
Unemployment: It is also a main reason which is considered in other issues. Lack of
job recruitment, people don't get job which directly gives impact on their financial condition.
Peoples with doesn't get proper medication due to unwell in financial condition.
Lack of education: Education also a big issue because people unaware about the
disease. Due to this they think dementia is contagious disease, therefore they don't give
support to dementia patients (Nutbeam, 2017). While those people who suffer from dementia
doesn't have knowledge about disease that what step should be taken to treat as result reach in
final stage of death.
Lack of social support: in barking and Debenham, doesn't have social supports i.e.
social campaign which aware people about disease and supports them to give health care
services. It is the main issue for influencing dementia ratio in Degenham.
National area
In UK, healthcare and social care system is good but peoples attitude for the health is careless.
Financial condition is good in UK but diagnosis of dementia is less.
Financial challenges: Dementia is the group of disease that requires more research for
getting solution. UK's government invests more funds in R&D department so that get strong
treatment of the dementia. Ratio of dementia patients are raised by and by that ultimately leads
financial challenge for the UK's government.