Dr Karen Luxford
Clinical Excellence Commission, NSW,
Australia
but effective concept was used to improve
the safety and quality of care for hospitalised
patients with dementia. Following on from a
pilot study and subsequent implementation of
the TOP 5 concept in hospitals in the Central
Coast Local Health District, we will evaluate
a targeted implementation of the initiative at
other sites in New South Wales (NSW).
knowledge into personalised care for patients
with cognitive impairment. Dementia is the
challenge of our time and by partnering with
carers and using their knowledge of the person
who becomes the patient it is possible for staff
to communicate more effectively with their
patients to make an unfamiliar and sometimes
frightening environment less daunting. A few
moments of conversation will provide the
answers.
Excellence Commission was provided with
funding from the HCF Health and Medical
Research Foundation to support the further
uptake and evaluation of TOP 5 for hospitalised
patients with dementia at 15 public and 5
private hospital sites in NSW.
and provide different levels of service.
Preliminary findings indicate benefit to patients,
good acceptance by staff and carers with
stories of that `eureka moment' reinforcing the
range of outcomes including the length of stay,
the use of 1:1 specials, chemical restraint and
falls as well as carer and staff perceptions of
the concept.
RN Dip Psychiatry of Old Age NSW Institute of
Psychiatry
CNC Dementia Behaviour Assessment and
Management Service (DBAMS) MLDN
Teacher HACC Cert III and IV and Aged Care
Cert III Riverina Institute of TAFE
dementia to the provision of care by, "putting
yourself in their shoes."
personal care and in home services by people
living with dementia is often viewed by
care staff from a negative perspective, and
as requiring treatment either with various
therapeutic or pharmacological interventions.
perspective from seeing the reactions of
people living with dementia as an "abnormal"
response to what we perceive as a normal
situation to understanding that their responses
many times are a normal response to an
"abnormal" situation.
own response to situations that routinely
confront people with living with dementia
both in the community and in residential
facilities, in an attempt to normalise some
of the behavioural responses that are
commonly identified as BPSD (Behavioural and
Psychological Symptoms of Dementia).