Margaret Brown

Enriching the care of patients with dementia in acute settings? The Dementia Champions Programme in Scotland.

Admission to hospital has been found to have a negative impact on people with dementia. The Scottish Dementia Champions programme was developed to prepare health and social service Dementia Champions working in acute settings as Change Agents. The programme was initially delivered to a cohort of 100 health professionals via blended learning, and comprised five study days, a half day spent in a local community setting, and e-learning. In order to complete the programme and graduate, participants were required to complete and submit reports relating to three work-based activities. The evaluation of the project adopted a two-pronged approach: Impact on programme participants was assessed by scores derived from the Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire (ADQ) (Lintern, 1996) completed at Study Days 1 and 5, and analysis of qualitative data derived from the three written assignments. Participants were asked to evaluate course materials and input for each of the five study days, as well as satisfaction with delivery. Analysis of data derived from the ADQ and 100 reflective reports of the community experience indicate that participants’ perceptions of people with dementia shifted significantly during the Programme. Participants identified a range of issues which should be addressed with a view to improving the experiences of people with dementia in acute settings, and put in place actions to bring about change. The format of the programme provided a cost effective means to prepare NHS and Social Service Dementia Champions as Change Agents for practice within a relatively short period of time, and would be transferrable to other staff groups as well as different organisational structures in other countries.

Improving outcomes for dementia care in acute aged care: impact of an education programme

Abstract The aim of this paper is to report on the transformation of a small local hospital offering, for the first time, anacute geriatric service. At the start of this process in 2005 it became evident that many of the staff wereinexperienced in providing care to older patients, specifically, and most obviously, in the area of dementia care.Previously, the clinical focus had been on medical and surgical care and the staff therefore needed to develop anew range of skills and knowledge. A practice development process was adopted to transform the service withthe overall aims of: • creating a workforce competent to provide safe, effective, patientcentred care for olderpatients; and • developing and implementing a staff education programme to meet the needs of the staff andpatients. This involved using a survey to gather baseline data about the level of dementia competence anddeveloping a dementia educational programme. In this paper, we present the evaluation of this dementiaeducational programme and its impact on knowledge in a new specialist aged care clinical setting.

Improving surgical outcomes for people with dementia.

Surgical intervention in older people with dementia is becoming increasingly common as the population ages and the number of people with dementia continues to rise. People with dementia have unique needs that require sensitive management at all stages of hospitalisation for surgery. This article sets out a suggested pathway for the care of these patients, in the form of a flow chart. It discusses recognition and assessment of dementia and delirium, issues of capacity and consent, interventions required for optimum care of older people with dementia and peri-operative management. It explores the role of family and friends in achieving integrated care.

What are Dementia Champions and why do we need them

Let us begin with a definition. A champion is a person who vigorously supports or defends a person or cause. We will argue that there is a need for people living with dementia to have champions in acute hospital and related settings. In particular, we believe that Scotland’s Dementia Champions’ Programme is a positive example of how to educate health and social care professionals to lead change and improve the experience for people with dementia, their families and carers. The training of dementia champions is not uncontested. There have been calls for all staff to be better educated rather than focusing on upskilling some staff to become dementia champions. The argument is that this title can imply they are experts in dementia care. This by implication may overstate what they can do, and/or they may have unrealistic expectations placed on them. With the increasing use of the term champion in the dementia landscape and a consideration of these views, we have been prompted to consider two issues: first, why do we need dementia champions? and second, can Scotland’s Dementia