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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Copying letters to older people in mental health services
— policy with unfulfilled potential | | Author(s) | Michael Clark, Susan Mary Benbow, Vanessa Scott |
| Journal title | Quality in Ageing, vol 9, issue 3, September 2008 |
| Pages | pp 31-38 |
| Source | http://www.pavpub.com |
| Keywords | Ethnic groups ; Dementia ; Informal care ; Communication ; Interaction [welfare services] ; Psychiatric units ; Wolverhampton. |
| Annotation | The important initiative from the Department of Health (Working Group on Copying Letters to Patients, 2002) to require that letters between clinicians should be copied to the patient has not been implemented as widely as was intended. There have been concerns about logistics, and fears that patients might be confused or frightened by communications that they are not equipped to understand. Yet modifications of the system to allow patients the choice to receive or not receive such letters, and suitable training for clinicians offer safeguards. There is no doubt that copying letters provides an inexpensive mechanism for involving patients in their own care and treatment, offering transparency and confirming respect for quality in the relationship between patient and clinician. This paper reports experience with copying letters to patients and families with dementia. The process was warmly received by patients and carers, including families, in a black and minority ethnic (BME) community in Wolverhampton, and few adverse comments were met. The routine application of this initiative will have benefits for the quality of service experience for older people, including those with dementia. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-080916204 A |
| Classmark | TK: EA: P6: U: QK6: LDL: 87A |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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