At two nursing homes for people with dementia a qualitative study was performed. The purpose was to investigate the therapy dog?s meaning to people with dementia from their perspective. Two women and five men with dementia were interviewed, everyone being somewhere between 60 and 87 years of age. All but one had previously owned a dog at some point in their lives.

Dementia may cause difficulties in communicating. People suffering from dementia are therefore often described as being unable to take part in meaningful conversation. The responsibility to create understanding in a conversation is shared by all participants. By means of different strategies, participants in conversation can construct understanding through collaboration. How these strategies are utilized in conversation where one or more of the participants suffer from dementia is relatively unknown.

Dementia may cause difficulties in communicating. People suffering from dementia are therefore often described as being unable to take part in meaningful conversation. The responsibility to create understanding in a conversation is shared by all participants. By means of different strategies, participants in conversation can construct understanding through collaboration. How these strategies are utilized in conversation where one or more of the participants suffer from dementia is relatively unknown.

The objective of this thesis was to examine and analyse how various directors within old-age care, the resident-coordinator, nursing-staff, and the dementia-team apprehend the organisation of dementia nursing homes in the municipality. Our questions were the following:How important is it that the care-receivers are examined and diagnosed?Do the respondents experience difficulties with non-differentiated dementia nursing homes?Which are the advantages and disadvantages for care receivers/patients and nursing-staff if dementia care homes are differentiated according to the care-receivers dementia diagnosis and phase of illness?Are there alternative solutions to the way the municipality organise the residence for carereceivers today that might improve the situation for care-receivers/patients and nursing-staff?How does cooperation or the lack of it mint the conditions for care in dementia nursing homes?Which goals does the municipality have for the organisation of dementia care?Our approach was a qualitative method consisting of interviews to answer the objective of this thesis and our questions. Our findings are supported by a sociological analysis of organisations. Our findings show that there is a conflict of interest between the principle of permanent residence which imply that the care-receiver should not have to move against her or his will and between the use of differentiated dementia nursing homes.

Background: Pain can be a constant problem in many older people's daily life, associated with particular physical and social disability, depression and poor quality of life. Dementia diseases are often associated with old age. Communication difficulties are one of the consequences of the disease, which clarifies the role of nursing staff in detecting and assessing pain. Objective: The aim was to compile knowledge about how nursing staff can identify pain in people with dementia. Method: A systematic literature review, where data were collected through manual and database searches.

abstractBackground: Dementia affected patients have increasing problems with memory , impaired language ability, which affects communication and behaviour is considerable. These difficulties may provide an outlet for aggression, agitation and anxiety, and are common in dementia, which is exhausting for patients and their relatives and carers. Behavioural changes are common condition in patients with dementia and affects quality of life and cause unnecessary suffering . Pharmacological treatment that is inserted to relieve these symptoms have many side effects. Printed out more knowledge about non- pharmacological nursing interventions that can facilitate care for patients , relatives and carers are great.Aim: To describe non- pharmacological nursing interventions in dementia care .Method: A general literature review of thirteen scientific papers compiled and described in a result.Results: Compilation resulted in two themes,  Music in dementia care and Stimulation in dementia care and four subthemes, Singing in the care, Listening to music, Activities and Consolation and fillip that showed a dominant positive effect on dementia affected patients and carers and there by create opportunities for caring in dementia care .Conclusion: The different nursing interventions may be useful in dementia care when they show a dominant positive effect on various behavioural changes, it seems memory stimulant and promotes communication between patients and carers which favours caring .Keywords: Agitated behaviour, dementia, non- pharmacological, literature review, nursing. .

Abstract          Background: End of life is difficult to establish in patients with dementia and many patients die due to complications related to the disease. To document that care are palliative in this group of patients is not common among nurses and physicians. This may depend on that the palliative course is extended and not similar to the palliative course common among patients with cancer. Aim: To describe how the registered staff in nursing homes document the care of persons with dementia in a late palliative phase. Method: A retrospective record study with a deductive approach.

AbstractIn this study eight caregivers, all with long experience from working in nursing homes for people with dementia, were interviewed.  The aim of the study was to describe the caregiver?s experiences in caring for people with dementia and Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia disorder. Data were processed by qualitative, inductive, content analysis. The results were presented in four categories: To connect, Two days are never the same, Being calm and giving time and All are needed. The result showed that caregivers met a variety of difficult and varied tasks in nursing.

People with dementia often have difficulties expressing their needs. Untreated pain within this group can be manifested as depression, agitation or loss in appetite. It can be a challenging task for a nurse to estimate, treat and evaluate pain for people with dementia. With good knowledge and an empathic approach, nurses can often recognize and relieve pain amongst these people. Despite this, litterature often suggest that unrecognized and untreated pain is common within this group..

 AbstractBackground: Among elderly people with dementia pain is a common problem. In older persons, particularly those suffering from dementia and cognitive impairment pain is often underdiagnosed and undertreated causing unnecessary pain, suffering and affect quality of life negatively. Dementia complicates the identification of pain when the natural ability to communicate decreases when a person is suffering from dementia. It is important that health professionals working with older persons with dementia are aware of the person?s pain expression.Aim: To clarify how older persons with dementia communicate pain expression.Method: To study this area a literature review was used.

The aim of the study is to investigate how social workers relate to the self-determination in cases that involve people who have dementia. To investigate this we have chosen to build a qualitative study. The study is based on four interviews with social workers in elderly care in Sweden. To analyze our material we chose the concept autonomy, and legal texts from the Social Services Act (SFS 2001: 453) and Parental code (SFS 1949: 381). Our results show that social workers are often forced to deviate from the law and guidelines to ensure the best for the person with dementia.

Purpose/aim: My purpose is to illustrate the significance of the language in communication with immigrants having a different native language, who suffers from dementia. The three main questions have been:How important is the native language in the communication with immigrant who suffers from dementia?What consequences can happen for the immigrant who does not understand Swedish? How can we use the salutogenesis point of view to create satisfactory care for immigrants who has difficulties to make them self understood in the Swedish language? Material/method: I made qualitative interviews with staff working in nursing homes with dementia care. I also searched scientific articles and other findings in this area of science. Main results: The best care for immigrants with dementia is nursing homes where the staff speaks the immigrant?s native language.

Bakgrund: I Sverige är det mer än 160 000 personer som insjuknat i demens och hälften av dem har Alzheimers sjukdom, som är den vanligaste demenssjukdomen. När diagnosen Alzheimers sjukdom ställts förändras patientens och anhörigas livssituation. Anhöriga tar på sig ett ökat omvårdnadsansvar och känner en större ängslan och oro för framtiden. Syfte: Att belysa anhörigas upplevelser av att vårda en person med Alzheimers sjukdom. Metod: Studien utfördes som en allmän litteraturstudie och sju vetenskapliga artiklar som motsvarade syftet granskades kritiskt och analyserades.

Dementia is a concept that describes different conditions when memory and cognitive abilities degenerate. Approximately 140 000 persons in Sweden suffers from some kind of dementia. Many are stricken with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, BPSD. The aim of this study was to illuminate nursing staff?s experiences of caring for persons suffering from dementia and BPSD within municipal and institutional care.

Due to deficiency in dementia care, the government has commissioned the National Board of Health and Welfare to develop national guidelines for health care services to people with dementia and support for their relatives. It has been allocated stimulus funds that may be applied for to work on improvements in dementia care. In August 2010 these guidelines formed the basis for a decision made that collaboration would take place between the county and the municipalities regarding dementia care in Halland, named Anna's path. The aim of this study is to investigate, analyse and describe how our respondents in the project Anna?s path are planning and preparing for the implementation of the registry of quality BPSD - Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia.