First international guidance for hearing and vision care in people with dementia published

A task force of experts led by Prof Iracema Leroi has researched and published the first ever international guidance for care of people with dementia regarding their vision and hearing.

'International Practice Recommendations for the Recognition and Management of Hearing and Vision Impairment in People with Dementia' presents both the rationale and process for the guidelines development.

However, the core purpose of the guideline is its recommendations, which are presented clearly across six individual domains. The domains encompass core aspects to improve detection, evaluation, management, and support of people living with hearing and/or vision impairment in dementia (HVD), as well as outlining steps for implementation.

Each recommendation is accompanied by practical steps to help health and care professionals achieve it (figure 1).

Figure 1: Reproduced table 2 from published guidance, 'Practice recommendations for domain 1 “awareness and knowledge” with steps to implement the recommendation [53-55]'

Published as an open access article in the journal of Gerontology, the group hopes to raise both awareness of the importance of sensory-cognitive heath, and improve the standards of care relating to this area in people with dementia.

Further reading:

• Leroi et al, 'Assessing and managing concurrent hearing, vision and cognitive impairments in older people: an international perspective from healthcare professionals'. Age and Ageing, Volume 48, Issue 4, July 2019, Pages 580–587, https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afy183