MALTA: 4,000 Maltese elderly suffer from dementia

. ST.JULIAN'S, Malta (The Malta Independent), September 6, 2008: In Malta, it is estimated that out of an elderly population of 52,128, a good 4,000 suffer from dementia. The number of people suffering from the condition will be nearly doubled within 20 years as worldwide progress in the health sector is increasing longevity. No cure has yet been found for this condition, which keeps aggravating until the patients’ last minutes. The Social Policy Ministry, together with the Secretariat for the Elderly and Community Care has recently organised training courses for persons interested in the field of dementia care. These courses were a European Social Fund (ESF) project, and were part of the Structural Funds Programme for Malta 2004-2008 of the European Union. The project leader was Dr Ray Xerri. The first training course, inaugurated by Dr Stephanie Xuereb, director of the Department for the Elderly and Community Care and Marjorie Bonello, project manager comprised a selective attendance of about 30 participants per session. The training courses were purposely targeted for all those involved in caring for people with dementia including different grades of health care professionals. In fact, a number of those who participated were nursing managers, nursing officers, head of services and enrolled nurses. The overall aim of the project was to improve the quality of care offered to people with dementia, and to promote the best practices. Certificates were presented to each participant at the end of each course by Dr Xuereb. Following the success of these courses, three more training sessions on dementia will be organised during the third week of September. The discussed themes will be exploring the implementation of practices focused around the person, awareness about the dementia condition itself, and care practices of dementia from a personal perspective. © Standard Publications Ltd