Abstract
People with dementia occupy 25% of the hospital beds. When they are admitted to hospitals their cognitive impairment is not considered in most of the cases. Some European and North American countries already have experience of implementing national plans about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. However South European countries such as Spain are in the early stages. The aim of this study is to design an Integrated Care Pathway to adapt the hospital environment and processes to the needs of people with dementia and their caregivers, generating a sense of confidence, increasing their satisfaction and protecting them from potential harmful situations. This study uses King’s Fund Dementia Tool to assess the hospital environment and develop a continous improvement process. People with dementia, families, caregivers and healthcare staff will evaluate the different settings in order to provide guidance based on patient needs. Person-centred care, prudent healthcare and compassionate care are the conceptual framework of this care pathway. The implementation and evaluation of this research protocol will provide information about how to successfully design dementia interventions in a hospital environment within available resources in those contexts where dementia plans are in its infancy, as only around 15% of all states worldwide have currently designed a concise dementia national plan.
Highlights
Spain is one of the countries with more life expectancy worldwide and the first one in Europe (Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development & World Health Organization, 2019)
More than 57.1% of the Spanish hospital beds are occupied by old adults (Abellán García et al, 2019) and at least 25% of them are people living with dementia (Alzheimer’s Society, 2016)
It has been assumed that the caregiving role of the Spanish older population corresponds to the family, concretely to women (Lillo-Crespo et al, 2018). It is changing from being cared at home to more institutionalised care, as in the last two decades the number of older people living in residences and care homes has grown more than three times in the country (Lillo-Crespo & Riquelme, 2018). Specific initiatives for such a Spanish population have not been implemented in hospitals and healthcare centres until now and this situation challenges health organizations nationwide to be equipped with adapted environments and trained human workforce
Summary
Spain is one of the countries with more life expectancy worldwide and the first one in Europe (Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development & World Health Organization, 2019). Specific initiatives for such a Spanish population have not been implemented in hospitals and healthcare centres until now and this situation challenges health organizations nationwide to be equipped with adapted environments and trained human workforce. Dementia-friendly environment interventions have helped to design adapted environments for people living with dementia taking into account their experiences, common behaviours, habits and enablers to facilitate their daily routines (Davis et al, 2009) These interventions have contributed to tackle the stigma of health organizations as unknown and dangerous environments. Prudent Healthcare is defined as healthcare which is conceived, managed and delivered in a cautious and wise way characterised by forethought, vigilance and careful budgeting which achieves tangible benefits and quality outcomes for patients (Hughes, 2016).
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