Developing a community nursing service to assess people with memory impairment or cognitive issues
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Developing a community nursing service to assess people with memory impairment or cognitive issues

Joanne Mary Oldham Community memory impairment nurse practitioner, East Coast Community Healthcare, Great Yarmouth and Waveney, England

Why you should read this article:
  • To enhance your awareness of signs and symptoms potentially indicative of dementia

  • To update your knowledge of the differential diagnoses of dementia

  • To learn about a nurse-led community memory impairment service in Great Yarmouth and Waveney

In response to a decline in dementia diagnoses during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a new community nursing service was launched in 2022 in Norfolk to enhance the care of patients with memory or cognitive issues. The Memory Impairment Nursing Service assesses adults who experience symptoms potentially indicative of dementia, such as memory issues, cognitive issues, confusion and behavioural changes. Each patient undergoes a comprehensive assessment to determine the likely cause of their symptoms and what their treatment and support needs are. Apart from dementia, memory loss and cognitive issues can be caused by several physical health conditions and by issues such as stress, sleep issues and side effects of certain medicines. One of the benefits of the new service is that it offers timely assessment and support for patients who probably do not have dementia, enabling the specialist memory clinic at the local mental health trust to focus on those who are likely to have dementia.

Primary Health Care. doi: 10.7748/phc.2024.e1821

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

joanne.oldham@ecchcic.nhs.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Oldham JM (2024) Developing a community nursing service to assess people with memory impairment or cognitive issues. Primary Health Care. doi: 10.7748/phc.2024.e1821

Published online: 26 June 2024

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