The symbol above is one to look out for when a person with dementia is in hospital.The symbol will be placed near the patient’s bed and will be used to indicate that the patient has cognitive impairment. This will ensure that the person with dementia will be treated appropriately.
The current problem in hospitals is that staff are often unaware of any impairment or are not trained in how to work with people who have a cognitive impairment. Hospital staff will be trained in how to care for people with dementia and will include the following:
- Introduce yourself
- make sure you have eye contact at all times
- remain calm and talk in a matter of fact way
- involve carers (family)
- keep sentences short & simple
- focus on one instruction at a time
- give time for responses
- repeat yourself…don’t assume you have been understood
- do not give too many choices
The idea is to promote a better awareness of dementia, reduce stigma and provide a better level of care to the person with dementia.
This is a great step forward!
* this campaign was originally initiated by the Ballarat Health Service and has been producing positive results.It is now being implemented into the CALHN (Central Adelaide Health Network) which includes the RAH (Royal Adelaide Hospital) and TQEH (The Queen Elizabeth Hospital)
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