La

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To help anticipate
To help live with dementia
Professions dedicated to dementia
care? Professions dédiées à laccompagnement des
personnes atteintes de la maladie dAlzheimer ?
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CONTENT

• Context a new professionnal skill in the 3rd
  Alzheimers Plan
• Care assistant in gerontology caracteristics
• The Fondation Médéric Alzheimers  Professions
  Survey 
• Preliminary results
• Discussion

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The French National Alzheimer Plan (2008-2012)
Context

• A new profession Case manager
• A new professional skill Care assistant in
  Gerontology/ assistant de soins en gérontologie
• Acknowledgments of
• a global lack of training for care for people
  with
• dementia
• a lack of recognition of field professional
• caregivers
• A specific career and skills development plan
  for AD
• Edition of an official manual for care
  assistants in
• gerontology

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Care Assistant in Gerontology a New
Professional Skill (1/2)

• WHO? Only nursing assistants and
  medical-psychological assistants are eligible.
• WHERE? At home and in institutional care
• WHEN? Started in September 2010
• HOW LONG? 140 hours over 10 months
• FOR WHAT?
• To support and individualized
• assistance
• To provide daily care
• To rehabilitate and stimulate
• capabilities
• To help people with dementia to
• communicate and develop more
• relationships with their environment.

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Care Assistant in Gerontology A New Professional
Skill (2/2)

• WHAT FUNCTION?
• Responsible for following the care, help and
  support plan proposed by the medical team and the
  coordinating nurse.
• HOW MUCH?
• Lump sum of 60 euros per month, added
• to their ordinary wages
• What objectives by the end of 2012?
• 3 600 persons trained
• Currently ? No figures available yet

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The Fondation Médéric Alzheimer 2011 Professions
Survey 

• OBJECTIVES
• A national panorama of the different professions
  intervening directly in dementia care
• To refine the knowledge on the professional
  practice of each profession
• To analyse issues such as
• their collaborative practice
• family caregivers
• volunteering
• technologies,
• To evaluate their knowledge about the new care
  assistant in gerontology

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The  Professions Survey  of the Fondation
Médéric Alzheimer

• METHOD
• More than 23 dyads surveyed through
  semi-directive interviews
• an institutional representative of the
  profession
• and
• a field professional
• The 23 professions identified
• Neurologists, geriatricians, psychiatrists,
  general practitioners, coordination physician,
  pharmacists, nurses, nursing assistants,
  physiotherapists, speech therapists, psychomotor
  dieticians, occupational therapists,
  psychologists, art-therapist, family host,
  medical-psychological assistants, social and
  family financial counsellor, social workers,
  carers, facilitators, recreation therapists, case
  manager, care assistant in gerontology.

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Preliminary Results of the Professions Survey

• PERCEPTIONS about the assistant care in
  gerontology
• A generalized ignorance
• But better known among institutional
  representatives interviewed
• Specificity skills not yet identified by
  stakeholders
• The measure just before the last of the
  Alzheimers Plan to be known (INPES survey, 2010)
  
• Even if they dont know this new professionnal
  skill, professionals appreciate the principle of
  better training for a higher qualification.

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Discussion

• Is it necessary to create new specific
  professions dedicated to people with dementia?
  Is a new qualification enough? Is it a real
  recognition of know-how?
• The two professions nursing assistant and
  medical psychological assistant are different
  (care and education ) but they both need
• to enhance their specific knowledge about
  dementia,
• to acquire better recognition of their
  implication in a better life for people with
  dementia.
• Is it the beginning of a new future for caring
  for people with dementia mixing cure and care
  approaches?
• On the contrary, could it be the beginning of a
  more confused world
• in which old qualifications are not enough and
  the new ones not really recognized as a
  profession?
• It is only a French story or is the topic of
  dedicated professions for people with dementia a
  crucial problem elsewhere?
• AGAINST ajout de confusion?

March 28, 2011
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To Conclude

• Creating a new professional skill is part of a
  societal and political dynamics and stresses the
  need for a specific thinking about dementia.
• Nevertheless this ambiguity between profession
  and professional skill stresses the double
  movement of singularization and
  de-singularization of dementia
• Empower the disease as a new autonomous public
  category
• Not jeopardize the financial balance
• and take in account the lack of human
• means by creating new dedicated
• professions, since many of the needs
• to be fulfilled are both for old people
• and people with dementia.
• Dementia is specific but all the people
• with dementia are part of our communities
• and professionals are major actors
• of this continuing story Project
  supported by the foundation

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• Thank you
• Merci

• for your attention
• de votre attention

Laëtitia NGATCHA-RIBERT
ngatcha-ribert_at_med-alz.org

• www.fondation-mederic-alzheimer.org