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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Counting the cost
— caring for people with dementia on hospital wards | | Author(s) | Louise Lakey |
| Corporate Author | Alzheimer's Society |
| Publisher | Alzheimer's Society, London, 2009 |
| Pages | 54 pp |
| Source | Alzheimer's Society, Devon House, 58 St Katharine's Way, London E1W 1JX. Website: www.alzheimers.org.uk |
| Keywords | Dementia ; In-patients ; Hospital services ; Medical care ; Management [care] ; Costs [care] ; Social surveys. |
| Annotation | People with dementia over the age of 65 are currently using up to a quarter of hospital beds at any one time; and they also stay far longer in hospital than other people who go in for the same procedures. As well as the cost to the person with dementia, increased length of stay also places financial pressures on the National Health Service (NHS). This report provides evidence from more than 2,000 carers and nurses on the quality of dementia care provided on general wards in hospital across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It considers the outcomes of being in hospital, and the evidence on things that go wrong in how nursing staff recognise, understand and manage unpredictable behaviour, on which nursing staff want more training. Among recommendations for improving dementia care, shortening length of stay and reducing costs are: the need for hospitals to identify a senior clinician to take the lead for quality improvement for defining the care pathway; commissioning specialist liaison older people's mental health teams; an informed and effective acute care workforce; reducing the use of antipsychotic drugs to treat people with dementia on general wards; involving people with dementia, carers, family and friends to improve person-centred care; ensuring people with dementia have enough to eat and drink; and begin to change the approach to care for people with dementia to one of dignity and respect. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-091120001 B |
| Classmark | EA: LF7: LD: LK: QA: QDC: 3F |
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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