Research: Dementia Awareness Campaigns

Research: Dementia Awareness Campaigns 

The use of string to represent the brain is a fantastic idea because it lends itself easily to the notion of something unraveling. The colour scheme is monochrome with only the NHS logo adding a small bit of blue. This works well because with white string and the white text stand out more. 

The main writing at the top is shown in a handwriting script as if it was written by the person on the poster. The women in the poster like the typical old person which is meant to show that Alzheimer's can affect anyone and that it is not always obvious who it affects. 

This awareness campaign poster is most effective at showing the fragmented memory loss which effects  people with dementia, where sufferers short-term memory steadily becomes worse. This is shown in the poster by sections of the individual letters missing. 

Research: awareness campaigns

Research: Awareness Campaigns

This is from an awareness campaign raising awareness of the dangers of smoking. The simple but effective imagery and minimal text makes it more effective because your eye is instantly drawn to the imagery. The imagery is pretty self-explanitory and using anymore text would be distracting and unnecessary. This is something I will bare in mind when creating my dementia awareness posters.

This is an awareness campaign by Tom Hussey for Novartis, a drug called the Exelon patch which can be used to help people with the problems that come with Dementia. They show the sufferer seeing their younger 'dementia free' self. I think the use of imagery is strong but the advert could do with some text, perhaps detailing some information about the person's life, and also something with the name of the drug. 

This is an awareness campaign by the British Heart Foundation, trying to encourage people to call 999 when they experience chest pain. The imagery is there to show the pain experienced and likens it to having a belt strapped tight around your chest. In my posters I could use some imagery which shows the damage Dementia has to the brain cells. 

Research: Introduction to dementia

Book research
Introduction to Dementia

Taken from-Cayton, H. 2008. Alzheimer's and other Dementias: Answers at your fingertips, 3rd Edition, London: Class Publishing.

Where the name Alzheimer’s comes from

Alzheimer’s disease is named after Dr Alois Alzheimer, a German neurologist, who in 1906 observed changes in the brain tissue of a woman in her 50s, who died of what was thought to be an unusual mental illness. These abnormal brain tissue changes are now known to be the characteristic features of Alzheimer’s disease.

Early onset dementia

Although the term pre-senile dementia sometimes still appears in textbooks, it should not be used. Fewer than 2 in 100 cases of dementia occur in people under 65.

Types of dementia

·      Vascular dementia, which is usually the result of brain damage due to tiny strokes

·      Lewy body dementia, which has some features in common with Parkinson’s disease

·      Fronto-temporal dementia, for example Pick’s disease, in which there are striking changes in behaviour before the memory problems appear.

·      Huntington’s disease, also sometimes called Huntington’s chorea, which is characterised by jerky movements in addition to dementia.

·      AIDS-related dementia

·      Dementia that sometimes occurs together with Parkinson’s disease

·      Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)

·      Dementia due to brain tumour

·      Normal pressure hydrocephalus, due to build up of fluid in the brain

·      Dementia due to excessive intake of alcohol over an extended period of time

·      Dementias due to various treatable causes, including vitamin deficiency, hormone deficiency and syphilis.

Dementia Vs Alzheimer’s

Dementia is a term used to describe various disorders of the brain that usually result in progressive and severe loss of memory. Alzheimer’s disease is one type of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common dementia, accounting on its own for roughly 50% of all cases (and occurring with another cause in a further 20% of cases).

Reflection
This piece of research was best to gain an understanding of the different types of dementia and common features of them. It helped me gain a well rounded picture of all the different dementias. I will bear these in mind but I think it would be too complicated for me to portray all these different types of dementia.

Web Research

Web Research-patient.co.uk

• There are approximately 700,000 people with dementia in the UK. In just 30 years, the number of people with dementia is expected to double to 1.4 million.

• Dementia is predominantly a disorder of later life, but there are at least 15,000 people in the UK under the age of 65 who have the illness.

• Its incidence (the number of new cases per year) and prevalence (the number of cases at any one time) rise exponentially with age.

• It affects men and women in all social groups and all ethnic groups.

• Alzheimer's disease accounts for 50-70% of dementia.

• Dementia can be part of another disease and occurs in about 20% of cases of Parkinson's disease and rather more of those who have had it for many years.

• It can follow head injury or multiple small strokes.

• Less than 1% of patients with dementia have a fully treatable cause such as an underactive thyroid gland or vitamin B12 deficiency.

• ‘Help and Advice for Relatives of Demented Patients’ [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Help-and-Advice-for-Relatives-of-Demented-Patients.htm [Accessed 26th Feb 2013].

Reflection
The main thing I learnt from this research is that dementia also affects a small number of people under the age of 65, this is probably something even lesser known than the main facts and figures about dementia. There are some important facts here which I think need to be put across to people through my posters.

Interview with the daughter of a dementia sufferer

Interview with the daughter of a dementia sufferer

What did you know about dementia before the diagnosis?

I knew very little about dementia beforehand. It was only really that it happened to the elderly and its symptoms were confusion and forgetfulness. I had seen it portrayed. I didn’t know a great deal beforehand. Mainly that it was something that happened to the elderly and symptoms were confusion and forgetfulness. I had seen it portrayed on.  I had seen it on television as something that was laughed at.

How easy was it to get a diagnosis?

It was extremely difficult to get a diagnosis and distressing. . The family doctor was particularly reluctant to give us a diagnosis and it took many months and several visits and phone calls before a diagnosis. By this time it was obvious to ourselves what the problem was but felt we still needed support to find out what type and how to manage it.

What type of dementia did the sufferer have?

The type of dementia was vascular dementia and this was exacerbated by a series of mini-strokes, which made the condition worse each time.

Did you have any difficulties communicating with them?

As time went on it was difficult to communicate with the family member. Keeping calm and not getting angry helped but also being reassuring. Subjects became limited and difficult. As memory became impaired talking about the past helped. Conversations were patchy and infrequent. We were aware that not being recognised might happen but we were spared that.

What did you think of the level of support provided?

The level of support provided is extremely patchy and almost nonexistent. It also depends on what area of the country you live in and what resources and funding is available. When the family member moved from Merseyside to Yorkshire we had better supports and we were finally put in touch with the memory clinic. This gave us confirmation of a diagnosis. Also we got Social services involved who put a team of carers in to assess what support was needed. This lasted for three months and at this point a permanent team of carers was put in place. Finally we had help but this was still limited to short visits. It reached breaking point when we were paying for night time carers to attend the situation.

Was the sufferer offered any drugs to combat the syndrome? Did they help? We were not offered any drugs to help the situation because by the time we had our diagnosis we were too late for any medication to be helpful. It is really important that this process is speeded up however it doesn’t change the outcome but sufferers could have improved quality of life if it happens sooner.

How drastic was the decline of memory?

The drastic decline in memory was catastrophic. It started slowly and began as forgetfulness. Eventually the family member was unable to do anything for himself in terms of his own care and reluctantly we had to put him in a home. A few examples of memory decline were that he thought his parents were still alive and they had been dead for a number of years. Also the order of doing simple tasks was extremely confused.

Did you notice a change in personality?

There was a change in personality but in our situation these were mostly positive. He stopped worrying about things that had bothered him hugely before and let go of all that. He could get a bit angry but this was if he was in a stressful situation mainly hospitals. They proved to be the worst place for a dementia sufferer to be. They were very unhelpful and lacked understanding and compassion. Once in the brilliant care home we found the family member well looked after was happy and very contented.

Was it easy to get help with care? Was this to a satisfactory level?

Once we got in touch with social services, which is a minefield but it helped that my husband was a social worker. The carers that came in to the home were in the main very good at their jobs. They took time and had patience. But from time to time they didn’t turn up which was extremely stressful. Overall I was satisfied with the help in getting care but it could be improved and speeded up a bit. It helped knowing a bit about the system ourselves.

Did you make a lasting power of attorney? How easy was this?

We did make a lasting power of attorney and this was vital. However that is an extremely complicated process and very time consuming. It also took a long time to put in place and once in place it didn’t always help. But we certainly couldn’­t have looked after and protected the family members business affairs without it.

Reflection
The main thing I will take away from this interview is that there is a need for raising awareness, as the person I interviewed knew very little about dementia before having a family member live with it. This shows that even adults with elderly parents know little about it, not just young people know little about it. This was better for gaining an overall understanding of Dementia and how it effects people.

Typography Research

Typography Research

I want to create a series of posters which raise awareness of dementia so I decided to read 'Just my type' to gain a better understanding of typography.

Garfield explains the difference between legibilityand readability-the impact of size. Using the album cover The Beach Boys- Pet Sounds as his example. He states that 'at small sizes, Cooper Black is legible but not very readable,' Garfield, S. (2011) 'Just My Type', London: Profile Books. Legibility and readiblity are something I will bear in mind when making my typographic posters.

Garfield explains the notion of kerning, which is the science of spacing letters. 'The 'kern' is that part of a character that overhangs or underhangs its body and invades the space of the letter next to it' Garfield, S. (2011) 'Just My Type', London: Profile Books. Although tastes have changed and it now may be possible to create a workable typeface which has its letters resting against each other. This is something I will play about with.

Garfield also helps us understand a type's legacy is in its social impact. Garfield shows how the invention of the first mechanical printing press, which was the inception of type in the 1440s, directly resulted in a more learned world. He discusses how the use of  'a type consciously chosen to suggest forward thinking without frightening the horses,' Garfield, S. (2011) 'Just My Type', London: Profile Book, helped elect President Barack Obama. This font, called Gotham, was more sophisticated, more contemporary and more flexible than the team’s original choice, Gill Sans. Gotham is available in over 40 different varieties. Before Obama's typographic change campaigns would choose numerous typefaces, but choosing one font helped create an association between the font and the person thereby strengthening the campaign.

Shelagh Fogart's show-BBC Radio 5

Notes from Shelagh Fogarty-BBC Radio 5 (17/02/13)

What the show was about: Does the way that we diagnose and care for people with dementia need to change?

·      1 Million people are to be trained as ‘Dementia Friends’ to support people with the condition.

·      1/3 people over 65 will develop dementia.

·      In less than 10 years an estimated 1 Million people in the UK will be living with it.

·      800,000 living with Dementia, half of that is Alzheimer’s specifically.

·      Another 500,000 people living with dementia undiagnosed.

·      New chief executive of NHS commissioning board said himself “hospitals were very bad places for people with Dementia”

·      Early diagnosis is crucial to get access to treatment and support and also make plans for the future

·      Diagnoses of dementia need to be more sensitive and caring, in a human way.

·      Across the country the support services vary- Salford daycare center, singing therapy ‘singing for the brain’

·      Patchy support

·      Memory clinics

·      Cuts to local government affecting services

·      Project set up a fake village built in 1950s style specially for sufferers

·      Diagnosis difficult for GPs-lack of training, or no following support services for suffers so no point in making a diagnosis-sometimes passed off as ‘old age’

·      Gerry Anderson donated his brain to dementia research

·      A couple of drugs available but don’t work for everyone.

·      ‘Dementia Friends’ is a way of spreading knowledge on it, and raising awareness of condition.

·      Trying to make people more aware of keeping an eye out for the elderly

·      Not always easy to get a diagnosis

·      Combat it with drugs and therapy-singing for the brain-new and old songs with different emotions

·    Some difficulties with lots of different carers with certain councils-dementia sufferers need a consistent team of carers

Reflection
The main thing I will take away from this show is the fact and figures on just how many people will be living with dementia, that in less than 10 years an estimated 1 million people in the UK will be living with it. Also the figure about 1/3 of people over 65s will develop it, there is a similar figure about cancer affecting 1/3 people, however more are aware of the symptoms and facts and figures about cancer. I think the facts and figures are something I could use in a poster.