This Is Me
Actor Kevin Whately is launching a new Alzheimer's Society leaflet to help tackle poor dementia care in hospitals.
'This is me' can be filled out and given to staff when a person with dementia goes into hospital and provides a 'snapshot' of the person behind the dementia. The leaflet will help hospital staff to learn about the person's habits, hobbies, likes and dislikes and is being supported by the Royal College of Nursing.
'This is me' comes following the publication last November of Counting the Cost: caring for people with dementia on hospital wards which found large variations in the quality of care for people with dementia.
The leaflet will enable staff to respond to the person with dementia's needs and reduce their feelings of agitation and distress. For example, people with dementia can become agitated and confused when they are in an unfamiliar environment and it is this behaviour that nurses can find challenging and prevent them from providing good care.
Actor and Alzheimer's Society Ambassador, Kevin Whately, says:
"My mother became very ill in hospital. Someone would bring her a tray of food then collect it untouched because she'd forgotten to eat it. I think if staff had access to a leaflet like this they would have known that she needed encouragement to eat the food and maybe she wouldn't have become so weak."
Andrew Ketteringham, Director of External Affairs at Alzheimer's Society, says:
"People with dementia are staying too long in hospital and many are discharged in worse health than when they arrived. But we know that no one goes into nursing wanting to do a poor job; rather, staff are often not equipped to care for people with dementia. We hope 'This is me' will support staff to provide the best possible person centred dementia care, by helping them to get to know the individual and understand their needs."
To download your copy or for more information:
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/download_info.php?fileID=849
