The Fife Dementia Strategy: 2010 – 2020 - The Knowledge Network

GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Challenging behaviour – Behaviour that is upsetting to the individual and/or
could be dangerous to themselves or others.
Dementia – Dementia is a general term used to describe the loss of brain
function including memory and the increasing lack of ability to carry out the full
range of day to day activities. Dementia can also cause changes in
personality and social behaviour.
Dementia friendly – A term used to describe an environment that has been
adapted to suit the needs of people with dementia and enable them to make
sense of their surroundings. For example, bedroom doors are personalised to
assist people to find their own room easily.
Extra Care Housing – Accessible housing built and designed to facilitate the
delivery of flexible, person centred housing support and personal care,
available as required on a 24 hour basis. Accommodation is normally
clustered but may operate on a hub and spoke or dispersed basis.
Intermediate Care – Services have been defined as those whose main aim is
to prevent unnecessary admission or support discharge from hospital back
into the community.
Non-specialist Physicians - Refers to physicians who do not have specialist
training in working with older people or people with dementia. For example,
this would include General Practitioners, Orthopaedists, Gastroenterologists
etcetera.
Palliative Care - an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and
their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness,
through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification
and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems,
physical, psychosocial and spiritual. 78
People affected by dementia – This term is holistic and refers to people who
have dementia, as well as their carers, family, friends, and community
networks who will all be impacted by their condition.
Person centred care – There are a variety of definitions and understandings
of the term ‘person centred care’. For the purpose of this Strategy person
centred care refers to care which encompasses the following four principles 79 :
• valuing people with dementia and those who care for them
• treating people as individuals
• looking at the world from the perspective of the person with dementia
78 World Health Organization definition of Palliative Care, 2004.
http://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en/
79 Brooker D. (2004). What is person centred care in dementia? Reviews in Clinical
Gerontology. 13: 215-222.
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