For bilingual Alzheimer’s and dementia patients living in a country where the language is not their native tongue, the challenge can be particularly stark. The condition affects language skills, meaning that many lose the ability to communicate effectively in their second language and revert to their mother tongue as their cognitive abilities decline. This can lead to significant barriers in care, as basic needs are misunderstood or unmet.

Imagine being unable to express pain, hunger or distress in a language that the person looking after you can understand and act upon. Sadly, this is the reality for many.

Where are current models falling short?

While the Care Quality Commission (CQC) calls for culturally appropriate care, the traditional agency model, which remains dominant in the UK, often prevents this from being delivered. This approach to health and social care prioritises filling shifts in any way possible over finding Care Professionals who are the best match for the client, be it linguistically, culturally or in terms of experience. Local authorities, care homes and private clients alike tend to default to the standard care agency route, inadvertently creating barriers to effective care.

As care agencies offer little control over who comes to provide care, patients from diverse backgrounds may find themselves paired with a Care Professional who doesn’t speak their language or understand their culture. This can lead to miscommunication, frustration for both client and Care Professional, and poorer health outcomes.

The shift towards cultural alignment

The only way to ensure Alzheimer’s patients are getting the care they need, no matter their background, is to prioritise a new approach to finding Care Professionals which recognises the role of cultural sensitivity and choice in delivering the highest quality care. Having a Care Professional who can communicate with you in your language is not a nice-to-have, it is the foundation of the most basic level of good care. Care experiences improve when a client feels understood and respected, and this is why clear communication is so central to building trust and a solid working relationship.

This is particularly true for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, who are more susceptible to anxiety and agitation due to their condition. Hiring a consistent Care Professional who is a cultural fit and can therefore communicate, anticipate needs and respect traditions is invaluable. The sense of familiarity and safety that this creates minimises the margin of error for miscommunication and frustration. Alzheimer’s patients also tend to be sensitive to change, so being able to assure that the same culturally competent Care Professional will be supporting them greatly improves care outcomes.

How technology can bridge the gap

The shift to a care format that enables greater choice and control is pivotal for providing the best Alzheimer’s care, but how do we make that happen? As with optimising many areas of health care, technology is the solution here.

Innovative platforms are leveraging technology to make patient-centred care simpler by enabling targeted filtering of Care Professionals based on language and clinical skills. This is revolutionising how we approach care, with choice and control embedded into the very heart of the system. The ability to refine searches to match specific cultural, linguistic and clinical needs ensures every patient can find a Care Professional who truly understands them.

On Curam’s platform, for example, there are over 7,000 Care Professionals nationwide with dementia care experience and nearly 5,000 speak multiple languages. Of all the Care Professionals on the platform, 30 languages are spoken with French, Spanish, Urdu, Romanian and Polish the most common. Easy-to-use filtering allows public and private sector clients to quickly find someone who matches their needs.

This is a smarter approach to care that leverages technology to streamline the process. It reduces the administrative burden of finding and assigning suitable Care Professionals, ultimately freeing up more time and resources to reinvest into direct care.

Rethinking the future of culturally competent Alzheimer’s care

For healthcare professionals and care providers who want to improve their Alzheimer’s and dementia care services, embracing digital health and care innovation that challenges the limitations of traditional care models is vital. By relying on such technologies, we can build a care environment that is truly inclusive and sensitive to the needs of every individual.

Moving staff acquisition to online Care Professional marketplaces improves efficiency and reduces costs, but most crucially, it allows for the delivery of outstanding, culturally competent care that respects the patient, their identity and their dignity. This should be the standard in the future of Alzheimer’s care.

On World Alzheimer’s Day and beyond, we must commit to a future where every patient has access to care that is centred around their personal experiences and makes their life living with the condition as comfortable as possible. Using the right technology is the first step to breaking down these barriers and building a health and social care system that serves all members of society, no matter their background.

By Patrick Wallace, Director and Co-Founder, Curam

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According to our National Health Service, in England, it is estimated that around 676,000 people are affected by dementia. Across the UK, the number is estimated to be around 850,000, which is predicted to rise exponentially to 1.6 million by 2024.

With approximately 70 per cent of care home residents living with dementia, care providers are continuously searching for new ways to streamline processes and improve quality of care, reducing workloads, giving carers more time to spend with their residents and delivering better overall outcomes.

In 2014, NHS England published a strategy called Five Year Forward View, which outlined a vision to transform the NHS and social care in England to become more integrated – the NHS Long Term Plan then followed, published in 2018, to set out additional steps towards integration. Then, in 2021, a white paper was published, Integration and innovation: working together to improve health and social care for all, setting forth legislative change to enable better integration in England. Finally, in 2022, the Health and social care integration: joining up care for people, places and populations policy was published, setting out measures to make integrated health and social care a universal reality for everyone across England regardless of their condition and of where they live.

Working together to improve health and social care for all, the Health and Care Act 2022 prepares for the future with integrated care systems (ICSs). The Act launched new legislative measures to make it easier for health and care organisations to deliver joined-up care for people who rely on multiple services. ICSs aim to deliver better, more integrated care for people, with a better and clearer transfer of information from one professional to another.

Many people with dementia also live with multiple other health conditions, each requiring support from a different service simultaneously.

ICSs will:

• help individuals receive the right support for their needs
• provide more choice
• reduce the number of times people have to share the same information with different professionals
• join up teams and services that are involved in a person’s care and improve communication between them
• reduce barriers for people in accessing services

A joined-up, integrated approach will provide better outcomes to those using health and social care services – enabling practices to be more proactive and effective, ensuring people with dementia receive the right care in the right place in a timely manner and reducing the burden on services which in turn saves lives.

One solution that has been utilised increasingly over the past few years to fulfil such ambitions is technology. After all, digital solutions are constantly evolving and improving, making it easier for care providers to enhance their quality of care.

There are numerous systems care providers are using in the current climate, including:

• Staff/workforce management
• Finance
• Care planning/care recording
• Medication management
• Occupancy
• Falls monitoring/prevention
• Fluid monitoring
• Skin/wound prevention
• Continence monitoring
• Visitor management systems
• Policies and procedures
• Meals/dining management
• Incident management
• Asset maintenance management
• Nurse call systems
• Movement detection
• Family portal

Indeed, different care settings may not require all of these systems. However, the scope of all these systems being able to operate together in one unified ecosystem is increasingly beneficial, especially from a dementia point of view.

Digital care management systems are becoming the hub of all information, informing care providers of everything they need to know. As a result, carers can now access an array of information about a resident living with dementia in the palm of their hand, helping them to assess needs and deliver evidence-based treatment.

As a market leader in care home software and providers of the UK’s most widely used Digital Care System, we strive to supply the care sector with solutions that improve residents’ care outcomes and allow care providers more time to care. From electronic care planning software to medication and visitor management systems, we’ve been transforming social care with our digital technology since 2013.

When taking on a resident affected by dementia, and even those without, the objective is always to capture the individual’s life story while identifying what makes them unique. By using technology to document these key factors, such as life events, mental state and wishes for future care, digital care plans will naturally be more comprehensive and, therefore, instrumental to both the individual and the care provider.

Furthermore, when individuals with dementia start to experience cognitive decline, they may struggle to express themselves. This is where digital systems can also provide a carer with access to any wishes or concerns the individual may have noted when joining the care environment – this could be anything from religious beliefs, culture, or wishes for the future.

Additionally, it is now possible for carers to interact with residents living with dementia without needing to try and extract information from them. This can be a daunting and uncomfortable experience for the individual, especially if they cannot recognise the face in front of them. Using Person Centred Software’s ‘Who I Am’ feature on a handheld device can show carers what a resident’s daily routine is, what they like to do, what makes them happy, what makes them upset, and so forth. As a result, interactions become pleasant and more interactive for both parties, providing a better experience for all and helping facilitate trust – the foundation of any aspiring friendship.

Some recent case studies on care homes utilising technology to improve the overall quality of care for residents with dementia include Mulberry House, a 72-bed nursing and residential care home based in St Leonards-on-Sea. Mulberry House provides high-quality services for people with complex needs associated with mental illness, learning disabilities, challenging behaviour, dementia and other long-term conditions.

Tara Cross, the registered care manager, believes technology has equipped care staff with the tools to connect with the people in their care.

“Mulberry House is quite a large complex, and we needed something that would give us visibility across the whole home – Person Centred Software’s Digital Care System did precisely that. From a clinical governance point of view, mainly because I’m a nurse by background, I can now get a glance at what’s happening in the home without having to run around asking people. So, it’s great to run reports and immediately get a good oversight of the whole building. ‘’Person Centred Software’s Digital Care System greatly enhances the daily lives of our residents due to its personalised approach to evidencing care. Partnered with organisations that integrate and work alongside the Digital Care System, Person Centred Software has created an ecosystem of care that provides our residents with the care and lifestyle they deserve’’.

In the short term, digital care management systems have only had around a 30 per cent uptake in the industry. However, innovative digital care systems that evidence care at the point of delivery will become more widely available.

Ultimately, any care provider not already using one of the digital care systems proven to improve the quality of life for people with dementia risks being left behind the times and, in doing so, compromises its ability to provide outstanding care.

About the author

Jonathan Papworth is the founder of Person Centred Software, a digital care technology pioneer. Founded in 2013 to improve the quality of life for people in social care, Person Centred Software has become an award-winning global company with over 3,500 care providers in the UK alone using their digital care management system.

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