What is a Gems Assessment

[Piper12]

Hi can anyone please explain to me what a gems assessment is, my OH has had a visit today from his mental health nurse and due to his aggressive behaviour the advice is that he go into respite care, in order to give me a break. He must have the assessment first. I did ask for an explanation but all I got was it’s bands they use ie Pearl, Ruby etc. I’m assuming it’s used to decide what care he needs, and how advanced his Alzheimer’s is.
Why can’t you seem to get a full explanation from some medics, I find it very frustrating

 

[nitram]

It's Tepa Snow's assessment method

tepa snow gems - Google Search

 

[canary]

This sounds like the categories that Teepa Snow uses.

6 GEMS® You Need to Know For A Positive Approach to Dementia Care - Positive Approach to Care

See how

teepasnow.com

 

[asriela]

Sheesh, that kind of thing makes me fume. Have any of these people and their neat little categories ever actually lived with a person with dementia. It's the same with that compassionate conversation stuff - its all about how the carer has to deny themselves and their own personality and reactions - this is not possible all the time. We are not saints.

 

[canary]

@asriela There are several different ways to categorise the different stages of dementia - this is just another. As ever, people with dementia are all different and wont fit a particular stage completely, but they are often useful generalisations.

Personally, I have found Teepa Snow very helpful although, obviously, some things will work for your PWD and other things wont. She has a lot of videos on youtube. Her depictions of problems and trigger points are IMO frequently spot on.

 

[Justmary]

Thank you for this @nitram and @canary . I had never seen this. In the last 18 months my husband has gone through the Amber, then Ruby stage and is now mostly pearl. It's given me such a shock to see it written out in black and white.

 

[Bun]

I have found Teepa Snow very knowledgeable.

 

[Piper12]

Thank you for your help, looking at categories he could fall into about 4 different ones in any given day depending on the time and his mood.

 

[canary]

Thank you for your help, looking at categories he could fall into about 4 different ones in any given day depending on the time and his mood.

Does he have FTD, or frontal lobe issues from vascular dementia?
These are notorious for "straddling" the stages.

 

[Piper12]

Hi Canary he has early onset Alzheimer’s thats all they have ever told us his ability to speak is very badly affected and has been since he was first diagnosed 4 years ago.

 

[Grannie G]

looking at categories he could fall into about 4 different ones in any given day depending on the time and his mood.

Carers and family members do want to know where their person with dementia is and many people have tried to categorise the stages and make sense of them.

The trouble is, the stages overlap, even when someone tries to sweeten the pill by calling them gems and as we all know everyone is different.

It`s only with experience we stop trying to make sense of stages and what the future will bring and just try to live from day to day as well as we can.

No one can be criticised for wanting to know but it doesn`t take long for us to realise with dementia, there is no knowing.

 

[canary]

You might find this interesting @Piper12

Atypical Alzheimer’s disease

Problems with memory are the most common symptom of Alzheimer’s disease, but around 1 in 20 people with Alzheimer’s have different early symptoms. This is called atypical Alzheimer’s disease.

www.alzheimers.org.uk

 

[Piper12]

Thank you all for your support and advice I wish I had found this forum when he was first diagnosed , but I’ve found you all now it’s great to be able to reach out to people who really understand what it’s like living with someone with Dementia