Six high impact changes to support people with dementia in hospitals

All staff should feel competent and supported to use person-centred approaches. This may include:

• nursing staff
• allied health professionals
• healthcare support workers
• medical staff
• psychology staff, and
• any other ward staff.

Work as a team to ensure staff members in all roles feel supported.

Resources to support your improvements

• Promoting excellence framework is a Scottish Government online framework for all health and social services staff working with people with dementia, their families and carers.
• TURAS learn - Dementia is a NHS Education for Scotland online learning site to help improve knowledge and skills within the Promoting Excellence framework.

Introduce processes to collect person-centred information for new patients.

Resources are available to support collecting information.

Resources to support your improvements

• Getting to Know Me is a Alzheimer's Scotland document developed to give hospital staff a better understanding of patients with dementia who are admitted either for planned treatment, such as an operation, or in an emergency.
• Creating a life story for a person with dementia is a Dementia UK has resources, including a video, to help work with families to create a life story account for a person with dementia.

Develop processes to involve family, friends and carers when collecting person-centred information.

Ensure information is collected at a time and in a way that suits carers.

Resources to support your improvements

• Dementia Skilled Improving Practice is a Scottish Social Services Council and NHS Education for Scotland resource designed for health and social service workers to develop their ability to support people with dementia, and their families and carers.

Change ideas

Create plans to use the person-centred information gathered. The information can be used as part of:

• care plans
• day to day care
• interactions

Consider involving a range of specialities when developing a plan. This may include nursing staff, AHPs and others.

Resources to support your improvements

• Person Centred care plans: good practice guide is a Mental Welfare Commission guidance document on good practice in the development of person-centred care plans for people using mental health, dementia and learning disability services.

Everyone can contribute to personalised activity. Meaningful activity can support the prevention and management of stress and distress.

Person-centred care plans can be used to plan activities for each individual. Consider introducing meaningful activity during activities of daily living, including personal care and mealtimes.

Resources to support your improvements

• Dementia Skilled Improving Practice is a Scottish Social Services Council and NHS Education for Scotland resource designed for health and social service workers to develop their ability to support people with dementia, and their families and carers.
• TURAS Learn – Using activities, connections and communication to prevent distress is a NHS Education for Scotland online learning resource on how to prevent distress by using proactive approaches to communication, social networks and community connections.

Collect data to show whether changes are:

• happening reliably, and
• having an impact on patient outcomes including levels of stress and distress.

Useful measures for person-centred care planning improvements include:

• percentage of patients who have a person-centred care plan in place
• percentage of patients who have meaningful activities recorded within their care plan daily

If your data indicates that your change has led to an improvement, consider how to sustain and spread your changes.

Resources to support your improvements

• TURAS Learn - Quality Improvement Zone is an NHS Education for Scotland online learning resource looking at the importance of measurement in quality improvement projects.
• Person-centred care planning change package is the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Dementia in hospitals change package.