ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- This month, St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul launched the first hospital-based program in the United States to routinely screen patients in order to identify and treat dementia in its early stages.
Four million people in the U.S. have dementia, a term used to describe the group of symptoms caused by the deterioration of intellectual functions such as thinking, remembering, and judgment. By the year 2030, it is estimated that over 9 million Americans will suffer from dementia. While dementias are not curable, they are treatable.
“Dementia not only affects the individual, but also the person’s family and friends,” says Chris Rosenthal, Memory Care Coordinator at St. Joseph’s. “It’s important to identify dementia early so that treatment options can be discussed and implemented and patients and their families can get the education and support they need.”
Dementia manifests itself in different ways, but some of the characteristic traits include memory loss, problems with abstract thinking, difficulty performing familiar tasks, changes in mood and behavior, problems with language, misplacing things, disorientation to time and place, changes in personality, decreased or poor judgment, and loss of initiative. Dementia can lead to poorer health outcomes due to lack of compliance with self-care instructions, as well as hindered personal relationships and intellectual pursuits.
The Early Dementia Identification Program at St. Joseph’s will provide education, and implement screening, referral, and care coordination for individuals and their families who are affected by dementia. The program is funded by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services. St. Joseph’s Hospital is the only hospital participating in the grant, along with Wilder Home Health Care, the Counties of Ramsey, Dakota, Scott, and Hennepin County and the Alzheimer’s Association. Other organizations involved in the project include Eisai/Pfizer, Veterans Administration, Minnesota Board on Aging and the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging.
For more information about the Early Dementia Identification Program at St. Joseph’s Hospital, call (651) 326-3250.
As part of the HealthEast Care System, St. Joseph’s is home to a state-of- the-art heart care program, the burgeoning HealthEast Neurovascular Institute, and the Upper Midwest’s first and only site to offer CyberKnife stereotactic radiosurgery. St. Joseph’s also offers comprehensive hospital services, from delivering babies to providing compassionate hospice care; from advanced surgery to behavioral and chemical dependency treatment; from high-tech diagnostics to patient-centered spiritual care.
For additional information about St. Joseph’s Hospital, phone HealthEast Care Connection at 651-326-CARE (651-326-2273), or visit the organization’s Web site at http://www.healtheast.org/ .
HealthEast Care System is a community-focused, non-profit health care system that provides a full spectrum of family health services. Hospitals include St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. John’s Hospital, Woodwinds Health Campus and Bethesda Rehabilitation Hospital. Other services include clinics, senior care centers, rehabilitation facilities, hospice, home care, outpatient surgery centers and a variety of other health facilities and programs. HealthEast has approximately 7,500 employees and has more than 1,300 physicians on staff. Locally owned and operated, HealthEast is the largest health care provider in the Twin Cities’ East Metro area.
St. Joseph’s Hospital
CONTACT: Ginger Buxa of HealthEast Communications, +1-651-326-3590,pager, +1-651-864-1023
