National dementia strategy ‘needed urgently’

A DEMENTIA strategy is urgently needed for more than 40,000 people who have the condition, which is emerging as one of the significant and costly in Ireland.

It is predicted that the number of people suffering from dementia could rise by almost 40% within a decade.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Henry O’Connell, who specialises in the psychiatry of later life, said that there are no clear pathways of referral for assessment, diagnosis and management of the disorder.

Dementia involves impairment in memory, intellect, judgement, language and insight and deterioration in social skills, and affects more than 42,000 people. This is expected to rise to more than 58,000 by 2021.

He said a “dementia strategy” is urgently needed for families and those with the condition.

“The lack of a coherent and functioning dementia strategy in Ireland has a direct impact on people with dementia and their families and carers, who had no clear pathways for treatment of what is a profoundly life-changing and ultimately terminal disease,” he said.

He says the impact of dementia is “immense” and is likely to rise significantly in coming years.

Dr O’Connell called for a strategy, based on policy documents already in existence, that takes into account projected figures and the economic climate.

He lamented the lack of specific recommendations as regards dementia contained in A Vision for Change, the Government’s reform blueprint for the mental health service.

“In particular, old age psychiatry consultant-liaison services are not acknowledged. This one area alone is a significant component of an overall dementia strategy given the high levels of delirium and dementia that are managed by consultant-liaison services on an ongoing basis.”

In 2007, Professor Eamon O’Shea of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland highlighted the need for increased funding and co-ordinated services.

Then, Prof O’Shea estimated that about 50,000 people look after someone with dementia. A budget of €73m would be needed to implement a plan devised by the National Council on Aging and Older people in 1999, he said.

He also said dementia should be made a national health priority, beginning with the full implementation of the 1999 plan.

In December 2010, the then minister for health Mary Harney launched a national dementia education programme.

It aimed to identify gaps in dementia-specific education and training for nurses and non-nursing staff working across all care services.