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Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia: a seven‐tiered model of service delivery
Author(s) -
Brodaty Henry,
Draper Brian M,
Low LeeFay
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2003.tb05169.x
Subject(s) - dementia , psychological intervention , intervention (counseling) , service delivery framework , medicine , disturbance (geology) , psychiatry , service (business) , psychology , gerontology , business , disease , pathology , marketing , paleontology , biology
People with dementia usually experience behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) during the course of their illness. Currently, in Australia, there is a lack of comprehensive planning for managing and preventing BPSD, and the resources required for optimal care are inadequate and unevenly distributed. We propose a seven‐tiered model of service delivery based on severity and prevalence of BPSD, ranging from no dementia through tiers of increasingly severe behavioural disturbance to the propensity for extreme violence in a small number of individuals. Each tier is associated with a different model of intervention. People with dementia may move up or down between tiers depending on their condition, their care and the intervention provided. Lower‐level interventions may prevent the need for the more intensive interventions needed when disturbance becomes more severe.