1. QUALITY OF LIFE AND NURSING CARE OF DEMENTED ELDERLY WHO LIVE IN A NURSING HOME
M. Mantzorou*, H. Basina*, S. Milonopoulou*,
D. Mastrogiannis **, Z. Aggelopoulou ***,
E. Koukia ****.
*TEI of Athens
** TEI of Central Greece
*** NIMTS Veterans Hospital of Athens
**** National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

2. Dementia syndromes are very disruptive for patients and family carers and constitute a major problem of public health because of their increasing incidence Taylor and Francis, 2006

3. Many researchers argue that the improvement of the quality of life of demented patients can play an important role in decreasing the devastating consequences of dementia Banerjee et al, 2009

4. Purpose Materials and Methods
The purpose of the present work is to investigate, through a review of the international literature, those aspects of nursing care which can increase the quality of life of demented elderly people who live in nursing homes.
Materials and Methods
A critical review of published studies was carried out, through the databases PubMed, Medline, CINAHL and Heal-Link from year 1998 until 2013 using specific inclusion or exclusion criteria of studies.

5. Results:
The review of the international literature showed that nursing interventions can affect many aspects of patients’ life and functionality and contribute towards a better quality of life for them. Factors that were found to influence positively the quality of life for the person with dementia are related to the environment, supportive staff and individualized care that values the person’s life experience (Moyle et al, 2013). Literature review shows a negative impact on quality of life when staff and care facilities neglect to provide an individualized approach.

6. The nurses’ role in caring for elderly people is based on respect of personality and preservation of privacy, encouragement of self-care, increase of family’s awareness, health education of the elderly and finally on team work and nurses’ cooperation with the health care team Kalokerinou-Anagnostopoulou and Sourtzi, 2005

7. The right nursing evaluation, the development of specific communication skills (Sakka and Limberopoulou, 2002), the modification of the environment so as to be therapeutic and safe (Brawley and Carman, 2000), the use of mental empowerment activities (Mougias, 1998) as well as pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions such as music therapy (Zheng et al, 2009) and art therapy (Midorikawa et al, 2008), are some of the most useful tools for nurses that appear in literature.

8. Nurses’ contribution to patient’s everyday life can make his/her actions more decisive and independent (Sikkes et al, 2009). This increase in patient’s potential has an impact on the quality of life and affect the amount of care that is needed.

9. Conclusions
The development of a strategic plan is considered essential. This plan should include the provision of specific education on health care workers and especially nurses, in order to provide individualized nursing care to demented elderly people in nursing homes, the education of family members who provide care at home, and the development of social support networks so as to cope with chronic illness and mental loss and have the best possible quality of life Tsolaki, 1999

10. References
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Mougias A. (1998). Alzheimer Disease (primly diagnosis , provision of help to the family), Greek Gerontologic and Geriatric Society, Athens
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