Dementia and Care Policies and Guidelines

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
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1NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Part A
Mental health concerns has become the most critical health aspect for people around the
world, after diabetes and in Australia, it is the second most crucial disorder that increases the
death rate, as 5.4% of males and 10.6% of females dies each year as per Dementia Australia
organization (Dementia.org.au, 2019). Several policies and evidence based guidelines have been
developed by the governmental bodies in Australia depending on that optimal care is delivered to
the patients suffering from chronic dementia condition (Bond et al., 2016). This section would
provide dementia and related policies and guidelines so that improvement that is achieved after
implementation of policies and guidelines in care process could be determined.
There are several policies and frameworks that have been implemented by the Australian
national government and the local government of New South Wales (health.nsw.gov.au, 2019,
2019). In 2010, the government of NSW implemented NSW Carer Act 2010 so that
implementation of carer in chronic illnesses such as dementia for aged care settings could be
achieved (NSW Legislation, 2019). Further, to strengthen the application of dementia specific
care in the care process, the government announced dementia as one of the national health
priority area by the Australian government. In September 2015, the Australian government
funded dementia care processes and developed policies for dementia care and mandates the
application of these in the Australian healthcare settings (health.nsw.gov.au, 2019). Besides these
the guidelines which were provided for the evidence based care for dementia patients were
associated with increasing the accessibility of care, enhancing the assessment, diagnosis,
treatment and care processes for effective care in conventional healthcare facilities (Family &
Community Services NSW, 2019). Further it would help building capacity and integrating
service so that both in state and governmental level, the patient could be provided with effective

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care (Agedcare.health.gov.au, 2019). To determine the application of these guidelines for
applying in the care process in conventional Australian health facilities, in 2010, government
launched the dementia awareness week in December so that awareness regarding the process
could be spread (NSW Legislation). Further, to increase the educational knowledge regarding
dementia and available educational resources, joint publication was published by the NSW
healthcare process and the ADHC so that patients could develop care related ideations (NSW
Legislation, 2019).
To implement the framework, the government first prioritized the chronic conditions;
collected evidence based data and then established the implementation group so that people
could be provided with effective care and resources (health.nsw.gov.au, 2019). Then, provided
the evaluation framework and then determined the effectiveness of the framework in enhancing
the dementia care associated interventions (Family & Community Services NSW, 2019). Hence,
the initiatives that were developed by the Australian government to increase the efficiency of
dementia affected care helped to develop community based nursing care centers and developed
guidelines that the clinical nurse consultants could use for the care of dementia affected
individuals (health.nsw.gov.au, 2019). Further, awareness regarding the culturally and
linguistically Diverse (CALD) dementia condition was also developed so that successful
assessment, implementation and counseling of dementia care could be developed
(Agedcare.health.gov.au, 2019).
Therefore, the development of guidelines and framework helped the government to
implement effective care in the care process for people affected with chronic case of dementia.

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Part B
Patient description summary
In this paper of dementia and associated care policies and guidelines, the case study of
Harry should be discussed as in this case study the patient is suffering from chronic condition
and this condition is affecting him social inclusion, self-efficacy and confidence. In this case
study, Harry (68) lives in the central coast of local health district and has lost his wife five year
ago. He lives alone in his house and is isolating himself from the society by not attending the
bowling club and the men’s shed. Hence, it is evident that due to the chronic health condition,
the patient is unable to focus on his active social life and is considering his health condition
limiting for his health condition. Harry’s children believed that he is suffering from obsessive
ideations and hence, should be provided with proper medication and intervention so that his
isolation and mental health condition could be treated. Further, they also think that after the
death of his wife, harry has become lonely and isolated which is affecting his availability in
social cause and aspects. Therefore, nursing intervention for this specific disorder should be
provided to the patient in priority and timely basis. In the following sections, the policy and
relevant information for the accurate and critically reviewed care process of the patient would be
provided so that person and family centered care plan for harry could be developed. After this,
the implementation process for the provided interventions that is available in local health district
would be included in the paper.
Policy and relevant information for the care of the patient
The first priority for Harry and his affected mental health would be identifying the mental
health condition he is suffering from. For this concern, the Australian guideline for diagnosis of
dementia would be conducted so that through the process, patient and his associated health