Can person-centred care for people living with dementia be delivered in the acute care setting?

Abstract

The need to improve care for people living with dementia in the hospital setting has long been recognised. Person-centred care has the potential to improve the experience of care for persons living with dementia and their carers, and has been shown to improve the experiences of hospital staff caring for the persons living with dementia, however it remains challenging to deliver in a time- and task-focussed acute care setting. This commentary suggests that to embed person-centred care across the hospital environment, cultural changes are needed at organisational and ward levels. In particular there needs to be: leadership that supports and advocates for workforce capacity to recognise and meet both psychological and physical needs of people living with dementia, promotion of physical environments that support familiarisation and social interactions, an inclusive approach to carers and the development of a culture of sharing knowledge and information across hierarchies and roles. An evidence-based set of pointers for service change are described which highlight institutional and environmental practices and processes that need to be addressed in order for person-centred care to become part of routine care.

Keywords: acute care; care culture; dementia; hospital environment; older people; person-centred care.

Figure 1

The DEMENTIA CARE pointers for service change highlighting institutional and environmental practices and processes that need to be addressed to help embed person centred care in the acute hospital setting.

Figure 2

Extract from the Pointers for Service Change booklet on how to improve the experience of care for persons living with dementia in the hospital setting – showcasing `Modelling person-centred care'.