Q and A with Deana Kearns, MSN, R.N.
Q. What is dementia?
A. Dementia is a term used to describe changes in brain function that interfere with a person’s ability to process stimuli and carry out everyday tasks. Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia, along with a host of others. Individuals with dementia account for 3.2 million hospital stays each year, exponentially more than those without dementia.
Q. What is the dementia-friendly hospital initiative?
A. The dementia-friendly hospital initiative at FirstHealth of the Carolinas is designed to engage staff through training and education to raise awareness of the special care needs of people with dementia and provide best-practice approaches to effectively interact with patients with dementia to provide safe and quality care.
Q. Why is this initiative important?
A. According to the World Health Organization and Alzheimer’s Association, dementia is a public health priority. Presently, there are 50 million people worldwide with dementia, and these numbers are set to triple by the year 2050 to 152 million.
A hospital stay can be stressful for anyone. But the unfamiliar noises and activities of a hospital can be especially upsetting for a person with dementia.
Q. What steps are being taken through this initiative to make a hospital stay less stressful for someone with dementia?
A. The initiative is being rolled out in phases. The first priority is to create awareness of our patients with dementia and teaching our clinical staff how to recognize the disease’s signs, how to view a hospital stay from the patient’s point of view, and how to best communicate with these patients. Communication methods include lowering voices, addressing patients from the front instead of the side, and redirecting conversations when patients become agitated.
Phase two of the initiative is the adoption phase and will include specific tactics to highlight patients with dementia and the development of a number of comfort resources to improve care for patients with dementia. Examples include special room packets that include labels to be placed on items in the patient’s room to help decrease confusion and toolkits at each nurses’ station with reference materials for staff and caregivers.
Q. How can the community help?
A. Our ultimate goal is to take this initiative beyond the walls of our hospitals and clinics. We want to improve all experiences for people with dementia, not just hospital experiences, by partnering with local businesses to provide education and resources to create a dementia-friendly community.
To learn more about the dementia-friendly hospital initiative and how you can help, call (800) 213-3284.
Deana Kearns, MSN, R.N., is the Administrative Director of Corporate Education and Professional Development for FirstHealth of the Carolinas