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Notes:
Volume 7, Issue 4(Suppl)
J Alzheimers Dis Parkinsonism, an open access journal
ISSN: 2161-0460
Euro Dementia Care 2017
September 18-19, 2017
Dementia and Dementia Care
September 18-19, 2017 Dublin, Ireland
8
th
International Conference on
Sara Mahmoud Yaghmour et al., J Alzheimers Dis Parkinsonism 2017, 7:4(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2161-0460-C1-028
Dementia in eastern Mediterranean countries: A systematic review
Sara Mahmoud Yaghmour
1
, Ruth Bartlett
2
and
Tula Brannelly
2
1
King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia
2
University of Southampton, United Kingdom
Background
: The increase in the older adults’ population is a global phenomenon, including in Eastern Mediterranean (EM)
countries, where dementia is conventionally hidden.
Aim
: To explore dementia and cognitive impairment among geriatric population in EM countries and to identify the gap in the
literatures.
Method
: A systematic search was conducted in scientific databases including DelphiS, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and ProQuest along with
google scholar looked for peer-reviewed articles between 2007-2017. Search keywords included older adult, old*, elder*, geriatric, and
senior, in combination with dementia, Alzheimer’s*, cognitive impairment, cognitive decline, memory loss. Further combined with
Saudi, Arabia*, Middle East*, or Eastern Mediterranean.
Result
: After obtaining critical appraisal tools, a total of 31 studies were included with four themes identified. (1) culture: The older
adult within EM is highly respected and introducing them to a healthcare facility consider an abandonment of family duty. The term
dementia is stigmatised and believed that it caused by fate. (2) Prevalence, comorbidity, and gender: EM population has become
more cognisant of Dementia prevalence, and many studies indicated that it is high. Many EM older adults are having at least one
chronic illness and low life-satisfaction. (3) Recognition and tools: Language barriers and lack of verified assessment instruments are
considered issues in recognising and treating dementia. Despite high illiteracy among older adults within EM community, many are
using Mini-Mental State Examination for dementia screening. Healthcare workers are facing a challenge in evaluating psychometric
properties. (4) Healthcare workers: lack of knowledge about geriatric and dementia, while geriatric nursing/medicine been introduced
recently in some Saudi’s universities.
Conclusion/recommendations
: Inconsistency published studies on dementia in the region. High demand for creating an educational
programme and providing policies to promote practical gerontological nursing/medicine. Healthcare professionals need to become
aware of health intentions shared by people from different sociocultural, religious, and linguistic backgrounds to deliver culturally
sensitive care.
Biography
Sara Mahmoud Yaghmour is a psychogeriatric nursing lecturer at King Abdulaziz University and now a PhD student at the University of Southampton. Currently,
she is working on a project to investigate nurses' perception and learning needs when caring for people with dementia using a diary-interview method. Her research
interests include nursing education, psychogeriatric nursing care, and people with dementia care. "She aims to be capable of developing and communicating new
knowledge in psychogeriatric nursing through designing and carrying out high-quality research and training".
smyaghmour1@kau.edu.sa