Transcript Middle East and North Africa Conference of Alzheimer's

Comprehensive Prevention Scheme for
Healthy Seniors
Middle East and North Africa Conference of Alzheimer's Disease International
Alzheimer’s Disease – The Global Health Crisis of the 21st Century
8-9 December 2013, Dubai
L Hafarian 1, A Mirhaj 2, M Salehi 3, F Farin 4, M Khansari 5
1Head Education & Research, 2 Head Public Awareness & Education, 3 Chief
Executive Officer, 4 Overseas PR- coordinator , 5 Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Iran Alzheimer’s Association
Presenter: Dr Hossein Nahvinejad (Secretary of National Council for the Elderly)
1. CONTEXT
2. OBJECTIVES
3. METHOD
4. RESULTS
5. CONCLUSION
1. CONTEXT
Worldwide the elderly population is rapidly increasing
create a huge problem
Rise in
prevalence of dementia
services for promotion of health and prevention of disease in the elderly
have been created (in order to achieve healthier and more independent aging)
The increased life expectancy
Gradual aging population
The related health issues
such as:
- Dementia
- depression, isolation
- lack of social interaction, hope, hobby, social support
- Impose more social and economic problems
2. OBJECTIVES
Primary goal:
 Raise quality life & health of the elderly
Secondary goals:
 Raising awareness about the old age diseases
 Raising quality of physical, mental, psychological, health,
spirituality and social skills
 Make better choices improving life style
Long term goals:
 Reduce the affect of old age diseases and disabilities
 Identifying aging population in the country, reaching
them by extending the project
 Reduce cost by raising quality of health in the elderly
3. METHOD
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Member enrollment
Target groups
Empowerment
Execute plan
Activities
Evaluation
Extending the cycle of the project to different locations
a. Member enrolment
Steps to take for member enrolment:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Complete the membership form
Pay membership’s annual fee
To feel part of a group
To cover the groups’ running costs
Complete medical form by:
Physical examination by a doctor
Psychological evaluation by a
psychologist or a psychiatrist
using psychological tests
Issuing membership cards
Join the activities
Weekly counselling
Evaluate each member by
psychological test and medical
check-up every 6 months
b. Target groups
People over the age of 50
C. Empowerment
The five essence of empowerment is:
Sense of Competence:
Believing in being capable
performing own tasks
 Self-determination:
Making free choices and feel
motivated
 Personal consequence:
Believe in self importance an capable
of making positive changes
 Meaning:
The sense of expression and
interpretation of what is being done
Trust:
Feeling of being safe
d. Execute plan
- In accordance with the essence of empowerment, the
project’s process namely, completion of forms,
coordination with staff are executed by the members
- One staff of IAA from the Education Department
monitors the direction of the process
e. Activities
Education
Learn about:
• Dementia , Alzheimer’s disease,
risk factors, prevention
• Hygiene/dealing with age related
issues
• Mental and physical
changes/menopause
• 10 living skills (self conscious,
anger management, anxiety……
• Preventing falls/suitable living
area
• Suitable diet/information about
medication(effects/side effects)…
• Learning a second language
Exercise
Scheduled exercise programs:
(aerobic, physical exercise, yoga,
Thai chi …..)
socialize
•
•
•
•
Celebrations & fun time
Travel tours
Reading
brainstorming sessions
Music & art therapy
Music, flower- making,
choir and painting classes
f. Evaluation
Continuous evaluation of the
project by:
• Distribution of
questionnaires for obtaining
members’ opinions about the
project
• Evaluating members’
health(by physical
examination and
psychological tests) and
comparison between the
present state of health and
pre-membership and a
control groups
g. The stages in developing the cycle of the project include:
keep records
and transfer
knowledge
monitor
identifying
the new
target
groups
laying down
the
infrastructur
e
execute the
plan
plan
suitable
intervention
identify the
priorities
hold
meetings
explaining
the project
4. RESULTS
IAA has been monitoring the
project regularly. The findings
indicate that:
- The rate of depression in this
group is much lower than
other
seniors
in
the
community and in some cases
participants’ depression has
declined after joining the
project.
- The members of the project
are happier, have a greater rate
of Self-esteem and enjoy a
better quality of life.
- Have better general health
5. CONCLUSION
The success of the project in raising the quality of health
of seniors has been the reason for running the project
for 8 consecutive years, in different locations in Tehran
‫با سپاس‬
ً‫شكرا‬
Thank You
Iran Alzheimer Association(IAA)
www.Iranalz.ir