H
orton General Hospital , part of the Oxford University NHS Foundation Trust , benefits from a reminiscence room with a memory bus stop , which was installed by raising money through the OUH charities and the bus company Stagecoach .
Having researched the effectiveness of memory bus stops installed in other acute hospitals , including Grimsby and Southend , it was felt that due to the high number of patients with Alzheimer ’ s and dementia , the Horton General Hospital Emergency Assessment Unit ( EAU ) would benefit from a similar installation , encompassing a reminiscence room , as well as a memory bus stop .
The idea of the reminiscence room and memory bus stop is to provide a calm , inviting space where patients can sit and do activities or listen to music to calm them . Patients who are purposefully wandering can find a familiar landmark from their long-term memory , which reminds them of home . They can then be distracted by activities or conversation and be brought back to the ward in a more relaxed state .
Rationale for the initiative
The bus stop idea has been successfully trialled in a German Senior Centre in Dusseldorf . They had been relying on police to collect their residents who were attempting to return to their previous homes .
The bus stop enabled staff to distract their residents while they waited and eventually lead them back inside in a calm way .
There are currently estimated to be 900,000 people in the UK with dementia . Reminiscence has been shown to benefit people with dementia in a number of ways by reducing depression , behavioural symptoms and apathy , and increasing interest , attention and enjoyment , social interaction , wellbeing and quality of life , while also improving cognition ( Westphal et al 2017 ).
Gonzalez-Senac et al ( 2022 ) noted that hospitalisation due to an acute illness in older patients is often associated with anxiety or symptoms of depression .
They evaluated the effectiveness of group reminiscence therapy on the reduction of anxiety and depressive symptoms in acutely hospitalised older patients , compared with the usual hospital treatment in an American university hospital .
They found that group reminiscence reduces the proportion of patients with anxiety and depressive symptoms during hospitalization for an acute disease .
A new environment to promote wellbeing and active engagement
It had been noted by therapy staff on the unit that there was an increase in the number of patients needing one-to-one nursing and some patients were agitated and wandering on the unit , sometimes becoming aggressive .
The Kings Fund ’ s EHE Environmental Assessment Tool ( 2014 ) was used to identify how a reminiscence room could meet the needs of patients on the unit . This tool helps organisations identify areas that currently do not meet standards that might positively impact on patients with dementia .
This identified that the environment did not promote wellbeing , did not encourage active engagement of people with dementia in their care , and did not promote calm , safety or security .
The reminiscence room is a small room , decorated with a mural of a field of poppies with an authentic local town bus stop and chairs next to it . There is also a white picket fence , coloured mood lighting and a large screen TV , and recently a large electronic tablet on a wheeled stand has been added .
Applications can be added to suit different patients to provide opportunities for visual , auditory and tactile stimulation ( Westphal et al 2017 ). Google Earth is installed , which can stimulate conversations about places of importance to the patient , as can photos and videos on search engines or you tube .
There are also activity books , DVDs , memory photographs lifelike dolls and pets and twiddle muffs .
Using the reminiscence room
All staff using the room have experience with people with dementia within the field of occupational therapy or physiotherapy and have completed level one dementia awareness training online .
Having taken patients into the reminiscence room who have been agitated and aggressive on the wards , we have seen instant calm when they have sat down watching one of the sensory videos and listening to the calming music while sitting beneath our changing mood lighting . Their breathing and demeanour quickly become much more relaxed .
Quite often these patients cannot remember where they are , whether they have had their medication , or even if they have had breakfast , and are quite preoccupied by their anxious thoughts about family or what is happening to them .
Once we take them into the reminiscence room and tap into something of interest to them , or jog a distant memory , they are able to forget their present anxieties and talk freely about subjects such as their past interests and hobbies , where
Main picture ( clockwise from left ): The authentic bus stop sign donated by Stagecoach ; the reminiscence room on the unit designed to be a relaxing , safe space ; Adam Newberry in the reminiscence room ; and a patient interacting with the mobile tablet
October 2023 OTnews 45