KVALITA ŽIVOTA OSOB S DEMENCÍ V DOMÁCÍ A INSTITUCIONÁLNÍ PÉČI

Abstract

The research deals with the quality of life of people having dementia who  stay  at  home  or  in  social institutions   care.  The   objective  of the research is to find out the current status of how people having dementia live, under   which   social  and  economic  conditions  they  live,  to find  out   the  extent  of their personal satisfaction with the conditions, and to compare the options, whether to stay  at home or in  social institutions.

A combination of research methods was used in investigation: case reports, semi-structured interview, observation and a couple of standardised question-forms: (Q-LES-Q, MMSE, ADL, IADL, Geriatric Depression Scale, Hachinski Ischaemic Score).

Eleven   patients  took  part   in  this  research.  Five  people  who  suffered  from dementia lived in their own homes and six of them lived in social institutions.Output of the research was focused on the quality of life of people suffering from any type of dementia. The results of the assessment show  that  elderly  people  are afraid of leaving their homes to live in retirement homes or  in similar institutions but  that  they  usually  adapt  themselves  very  well  to  the   new  conditions  there.  At the end they are satisfied there because they often lived under unsuitable conditions at their homes or they did not want to trouble other family members.Sometimes patients live in  really bad conditions at home, e.g. they have experienced  some  form  of  maltreatment  and  surprisingly  they  are  still  satisfied  at home and they are afraid of leaving it.This   implies   that   there   is   no  difference  between  contented  patients  with dementia at home or in social institutions. What is important is the fact, what patients themselves expect from their life, what they prefer.