This course is designed to help mental health practitioners diagnose and treat mental disorders in older adults living in long term care facilities.Social cognitive approach to learning practitioners will become aware of difficulties and complexities of the impact of the aging process and the impact of nursing home milieu on mental health.Social cognitive approach to learning they will also gain knowledge and skills for working within complex psychological dynamics of family and aging parents and loved ones. Information in this course is based on the most recent research, and is evidence-based.Social cognitive approach to learning however, readers should be aware that the realm of geriatric mental health is rapidly growing and therefore new research appears day to day.Social cognitive approach to learning introduction

Researchers are now saying that high blood pressure at sleep-time is an independent predictor of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease.Social cognitive approach to learning they also have found that people who sleep five hours or less a night are more prone to higher risk of developing high blood pressure. Therefore asking about sleep should be useful.Social cognitive approach to learning men with erectile dysfunction often have concurrent vascular problems.

The brain undergoes multiple changes with age. High blood pressure can cause damage to the brain.Social cognitive approach to learning with age, the brain’s blood supply decreases. Because of this, there is a 20 percent decrease in blood flow from 30 to 70 years of age. As vessels thicken, they impair the transport of nutrients and oxygen.Social cognitive approach to learning capillaries die. In spite of its high prevalence of vascular diseases, only 10 to 20% over 65 will be clinically diagnosed.

Be aware that many older adults are taking statin drugs (cholesterol-lowering drugs).Social cognitive approach to learning these drugs are known to cause mood disorders and significant cognitive problems. In the elderly, lowering cholesterol is related to all-cause mortality elder adults, even when adjusted for other health status or indicators of frailty.Social cognitive approach to learning statins are also associated with an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis, which can cause agitation and depression. Personality

For example, in a 2002 study of aging, researchers helson, kwan, john, & jones stated that, in healthy adults, the trait of neuroticism (a tendency to be in a negative) and extraversion (people how like to talk to others) decline, while the traits of agreeableness and conscientiousness increase.Social cognitive approach to learning they found evidence that personality does change during adulthood.

Today’s phones, pads, and other devices are very useful in long term care.Social cognitive approach to learning these devices allow the patient to talk to and see their friends and families. Most of these devices have audio and video recording of the visits are very useful.Social cognitive approach to learning while it is not as gratifying as a real visit, most people enjoy them again and again. These devises can also be used for music, movies, books, and magazines.Social cognitive approach to learning social dynamics

The continuing loss of fluid through the skin and lungs and in the urine and feces requires that fluids need to be replenished throughout the day.Social cognitive approach to learning as people age, baroreceptors decrease, and the sense of thirst becomes impaired. When older adults (aged 65 to 74) and young adults (aged 21 to 30) were given salty water to make them thirsty, the elders drank half as much water as the younger subjects.Social cognitive approach to learning

Depressive symptoms are associated with poorer sexual health. Retirement is also a problem because many men do tie their identity to their work, retirement often brings on depression and adjustment disorders, which can make life difficult for both partners.Social cognitive approach to learning another problem is the significant change in time spent together, and the concomitant disruption in lifestyle and routines. Marital conflict often increases, anger and hostility emerge, and, consequently, sexual desire may lessen.Social cognitive approach to learning

People who are delirious have problems with focus and sustaining attention, delirium, also called acute confusional state, is most often caused by acute illness or drug toxicity, and always involves periods of diminished consciousness.Social cognitive approach to learning it may be caused by fever, organ failure that leads to toxicity, or any acute infection. The most frequent cause of delirium in older people is a urinary tract infection, and this should always be assessed and ruled out when establishing the cause of diminished cognition.Social cognitive approach to learning the delirious state is usually transient and fluctuates in intensity throughout the day.

Although dementia is usually thought of as a chronic, progressive loss of mental function, many people suffer from potentially reversible dementias.Social cognitive approach to learning the most common cause of reversible dementia is reaction to medication, i.E., prescription, over the counter, or polypharmacy. Other causes are brain tumors, thyroid problems, low testosterone, infections, sepsis, toxins, nutritional deficiencies, metabolic problems, and neurological disorders.Social cognitive approach to learning

In 2014 pubmed published 1165 research papers on reversible dementias. There is evidence that one out of four older people diagnosed with dementia does not have it.Social cognitive approach to learning this is often because of sloppy diagnosis, or confusing medical or psychological disorders with dementing illness. It is also important to distinguish the existence of a mental disorder from the symptoms of dementia, because mental disorders often mimic the symptoms of dementia, yet are often treatable.Social cognitive approach to learning in addition, when a person is suffering from dementia, the existence of other mental disorders may worsen the symptoms. The 2012 ICD-9-CM diagnosis code 290.21 is “senile dementia with depressive features.” the 2015 ICD-10-CM F03.90 is “unspecified dementia without behavioral disturbance.” subcortical dementias