| Theme |
Dementia of Haemodialysis Elder Patients |
| Title |
Psychosocial support for families of demented dialysis patients |
| Author |
Toshinari Saeki |
Department of Psychiatry & Neurosciences, Hiroshima University School of Medicine |
| Author |
Tomoko Shingu |
Department of Psychiatry, Akane-Foundation, Tsuchiya General Hospital |
| [ Summary ] |
In Japan, elderly persons over the age of 65, are expected to soon become the majority of those people requireing maintenance dialysis therapy. Many of these individuals have numerous comorbid medical and psychiatric complications, including dementia, and create a great challenge especially for their families. In this article, we first present the case of a male with end-stage renal failure and dementia and describe his family faced a number of problems. Secondly, Western and Japanese literature attempting to address factors related to psychological distress among families of demented patients is briefly reviewed. Thirdly, we describe how to support families of dialysis patients in various stages of dementia. Since the patient's life with dialysis inevitably affects the entire family, the patient and his/her family members should not be separated when considering in dialysis care. |