Course offers intense training for carers of Alzheimer's patients
Health care workers can take 80-hour course
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, an irreversible and progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills.
In its early stages the sufferer can communicate, reason and go about regular tasks. But once the condition sets in, even the most basic chores become a challenge with the sufferer experiencing memory loss, hallucinations, difficulties planning or solving problems, as well as misplacing items and losing track of special occasions.
In terms of medication and treatment, Dr David Dai Lok-kwan, a consultant from the department of medicine at the Prince of Wales Hospital in the New Territories, says there has been no major progress recently.
"There are new drugs being experimented with, but at the moment there are only two treatments available for Alzheimer's: cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine," Dai says.
What is new, however, is an 80-hour course that health care providers in Hong Kong can complete to become certified dementia care planners so they can help Alzheimer's sufferers and their families plan a more manageable future.
The course is organised by the Institute of Alzheimer's Education, a training facility under the Hong Kong Alzheimer's Disease Association.