The session is deliberately chaotic , to simulate how patients with dementia may feel being in the middle of a busy and strange environment without familiar faces and familiar objects .”
The session is deliberately chaotic , to simulate how patients with dementia may feel being in the middle of a busy and strange environment without familiar faces and familiar objects .”
Little instruction or explanation is given to participants ; this is to replicate that people living with dementia may have forgotten what is happening to them due to short term memory loss . This in turn may be anxiety provoking , causing patients to worry about what happening .
The session is deliberately chaotic , to simulate how patients with dementia may feel being in the middle of a busy and strange environment without familiar faces and familiar objects .
The impact so far
Written staff feedback gathered at the end of each session has provided overwhelmingly positive feedback ; all participants responded that their knowledge on the symptoms of dementia has increased and they have developed new ideas on how to create a dementia-friendly environment .
Many revealed they are going to make a conscious effort to now approach patients living with dementia from the front , to ensure they are within their visual field during communication .
They will also review the environment before interaction to ensure a calm atmosphere with limited noise and distraction to improve attention , focus and reducing anxiety and disorientation .
Feedback has also shown an appreciation for how staff approach can have a huge impact on how valued you feel as a person . All participants have responded with an increased empathy towards people living with dementia and will now give more time when caring for them .
One participant reported ‘ I felt so confused and lonely ’, while another told us ‘ I couldn ’ t process any information because of the noise and the chaos ’.
Feedback has revealed that the training session has really allowed staff members to better understand the emotions and barriers to function that someone living with dementia may have while being cared for in an acute hospital .
Celebrating our success
We are passionate about raising awareness of how receiving care within unfamiliar hospital environments can prove challenging for people living with dementia . Through embedding simulation-based dementia training and group reflection we aim to provide an impactful , meaningful and thought-provoking unique experience for staff .
We hope that this experience will lead to enhancements in their approach to caring for people with dementia , causing them to further consider and adapt the environment and their care and communication skills , to incorporate a patient-focused , compassionate and understanding approach to care when caring for those with dementia .
The project has won a trust-wide Allied Health Professional Award for ‘ Innovation of the Year ’ and was nominated for the hospital staff award ceremony within the ‘ Making Improvements for our patients ’ experience ’ category .
Ongoing feedback and data collection will be gathered as part of a Quality Improvement ( QI ) project , and we will share a QI project report in the near future .
We hope that sharing our local practice improvement efforts and results may encourage others to consider how they can further enhance the care experience for patients with dementia within their services .
Alzheimer ’ s society ( 2021 ). Hallucinations and dementia [ online ]. Available at https :// bit . ly / 4aShVR9s [ accessed 26 February 2024 ].
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ( 2021 ) Hospital care : NICE impact dementia . Available at https :// bit . ly / 43WB6qL [ accessed 26 February 2024 ].
Vaona A , Banzi R , Kwag KH , Rigon G , Cereda D , Pecoraro V , Tramacere I and Moja L ( 2018 ) E-learning for health professionals . Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews [ online ]. DOI : https :// bit . ly / 4auwyKy [ accessed 26 February 2024 ].
Words JEMMA WILTSHIRE and LOUISE CINDERBY , Senior Occupational Therapists , Frailty Team , North Bristol Trust . Contact jemma . wiltshire @ nbt . nhs . uk or louise . cinderby @ nbt . nhs . uk
28 OTnews May 2024