Use of the physical environment to support everyday activities for people with dementia: A systematic review

Difficulty with everyday activities is a key symptom and defining feature of dementia, relating to subjective reports of well-being and overall quality of life. One way to support individuals in their daily activities is by modifying the physical environment to make it easier to interact with during activity performance. This systematic review explores the range of studies available using physical environmental strategies to support performance in everyday activities for people with dementia. Seventy-two relevant studies were identified by the search. Physical environmental strategies included changes to the global environment and to architectural features, use of moveable environmental aids and tailored individual approaches. Strategies supported general everyday activity functioning (N = 19), as well as specific activities, particularly mealtimes (N = 15) and orientation in space (N = 16); however, few studies were found that focused on aspects of personal care such as dressing (N = 1) and showering or the preferred hobbies of individuals (N = 0). Overall, there appeared to be a lack of research within private home environments, and of studies which specify the dementia syndrome or the whole neuropsychological profile of people with dementia. More work is needed to extend theoretical understandings of how people with dementia interact with their environments so that these spaces can be designed to further support activities of daily living performance. Future work in this field could also incorporate the perspectives and preferences of those living with dementia.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This review was supported by a studentship from Brunel University London. The studentship is attached to a grant from the ESRC-NIHR (UK) (Grant ES/L001810/1). Grant title: Seeing what they see: compensating for cortical visual dysfunction in Alzheimer’s Disease. SC is also supported by the NIHR Queen Square Dementia Biomedical Research Unit and an Alzheimer’s Research UK Senior Research Fellowship

A family of hexanuclear Mn(III) single-molecule magnets

In an attempt to employ salicylic acid (HOsalH), 2,6-dihydroxy benzoic acid {(HO)2PhCO2H}, and naphthalene-1,8-dicarboxylic acid {1,8-naph(CO2H)2} in Mn(III) salicylaldoximate chemistry as a means to alter the structural identity of the hexanucluear clusters usually obtained from this reaction system, we have isolated a family of hexanuclear Mn(III) complexes based on salicyladloxime (saoH2) and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde oxime (naphthsaoH2). Five hexanuclear clusters, [Mn6O2(sao)6(HOsal)2(EtOH)4]·EtOH (1·EtOH), [Mn6O2(sao)6{1,8-naph(CO2Me)(CO2)}2(MeOH)6]·3MeOH (2·3MeOH), [Mn6O2(naphthsao)6{1,8-naph(CO2Et)(CO2)}2(EtOH)6] (3·2MeOH), [Mn6O2(naphthsao)6(MeCO2)2(EtOH)4]·2H2O (4·2H2O), and [Mn6O2(naphthsao)6{(HO)2PhCO2}2(EtOH)4]·4EtOH (5·4EtOH), have been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The magnetic properties of 3, 4, and 5 are discussed.</p

A family of hexanuclear Mn(III) single-molecule magnets

In an attempt to employ salicylic acid (HOsalH), 2,6-dihydroxy benzoic acid {(HO)2PhCO2H}, and naphthalene-1,8-dicarboxylic acid {1,8-naph(CO2H)2} in Mn(III) salicylaldoximate chemistry as a means to alter the structural identity of the hexanucluear clusters usually obtained from this reaction system, we have isolated a family of hexanuclear Mn(III) complexes based on salicyladloxime (saoH2) and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde oxime (naphthsaoH2). Five hexanuclear clusters, [Mn6O2(sao)6(HOsal)2(EtOH)4]·EtOH (1·EtOH), [Mn6O2(sao)6{1,8-naph(CO2Me)(CO2)}2(MeOH)6]·3MeOH (2·3MeOH), [Mn6O2(naphthsao)6{1,8-naph(CO2Et)(CO2)}2(EtOH)6] (3·2MeOH), [Mn6O2(naphthsao)6(MeCO2)2(EtOH)4]·2H2O (4·2H2O), and [Mn6O2(naphthsao)6{(HO)2PhCO2}2(EtOH)4]·4EtOH (5·4EtOH), have been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The magnetic properties of 3, 4, and 5 are discussed.</p

Oral and enteral nutrition in dementia: an overview.

The number of people currently living with dementia in the UK is estimated to be 850 000 and this is expected to rise to over 1 million by the year 2025. Dementia is a progressive terminal disease and the rate of decline is unique to each person; however, cognitive deterioration can be accelerated by undernutrition. This article discusses evidence-based approaches in the use of oral and enteral nutrition interventions for people living with dementia and ways to support their caregivers. The discussion of interventions to improve oral nutrition includes changes to the environment, support with feeding difficulties, nutritional supplements and education and training for caregivers