The research paper, titled Improving Healthcare Quality and Clinical Outcomes for Persons with Dementia in the Sub-Acute Hospital Through Person-Centered Care Practice, concluded the person-centred care model significantly improved clinical outcomes for people living with dementia, after hospitilisation.
Co-author and Uniting War Memorial Hospital Allied Health and Integrated Care Manager, Genevieve Maiden, said the international recognition will go a long way towards promoting person-centred care as best practice in healthcare across multiple disciplines.
Caption: Genevieve Maiden and Donna McCade
“This means our patients with dementia, and their carers are partners throughout their healthcare journey, improving patient outcomes and experience,” Genevieve said.
“To achieve this, healthcare staff need the training and tools so they have the capability, opportunity and motivation to embrace this model of care.”
The study involved 67 War Memorial Hospital in-patients living with dementia aged 60 years and over, their carers, dementia care clinicians and researchers.
For nine months, 90 sub-acute hospital nursing, allied health and medical staff participated in online or face-to-face person-centred education and were supported in delivering person-centred healthcare by senior nursing, allied health and medical staff champions.
Uniting War Memorial Clinical Psychologist Donna McCade said the approach is all about how we look at every individual to understand how we better treat them.
“The person-centred care model was designed to assist clinical staff in knowing how to meet the holistic healthcare needs of persons living with dementia, including who they are as people, their beliefs, values, culture, religion and everything else that matters to them,” said Donna.
The study, conducted over a 13-month period between March 2022 and April 2023, found the benefits and clinical results arising from providing education and supporting clinical staff in person-centred care practices were significant.
“We found that implementing the person-centred care model provided significantly improved clinical outcomes for people with dementia; outcomes which are beneficial for the person and their family/carer and represent an enormous cost benefit for health services,” Donna said.
“Seeing every person as an individual with individual needs and wants helped to understand how to provide them with their own favourable environments under which they could thrive and improve.”
67 study participants with dementia and 38 of their family carers reported that they were highly satisfied with the person-centred approach to their healthcare.
WMH in-patient “Sue” said the person-centred care approach at WMH had made a huge difference to her own struggles with her health. “You just can’t quantify the support, they go over and above and you never feel like you’re too much trouble or not important.”
The paper will be published in the March issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
Media contact
Richelle Pellegrini
Media & Public Affairs Manager
0468 633 798
rpellegrini@uniting.org
Article
“Improving Healthcare Quality and Clinical Outcomes for Persons with Dementia in the Sub-Acute Hospital Through Person-Centered Care Practice,” by Lynn Chenoweth, Claire Burley, Jacquelene Cook, et al. (https://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad231056), Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, Volume 98, Issue 2, published by IOS Press.
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About the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease
Now in its 27th year of publication, the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (JAD) is an international multidisciplinary journal to facilitate progress in understanding the etiology, pathogenesis, epidemiology, genetics, behavior, treatment, and psychology of Alzheimer’s disease. The journal publishes research reports, reviews, short communications, book reviews, and letters-to-the-editor. Groundbreaking research that has appeared in the journal includes novel therapeutic targets, mechanisms of disease, and clinical trial outcomes. JAD has a Journal Impact Factor of 4 according to Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate, 2023). The journal is published by IOS Press. j-alz.com
About IOS Press
IOS Press is an international scientific, technical, medical (STM) publishing house established in 1987 in Amsterdam. We produce around 90 journals and 70 books annually in a broad range of subject categories, primarily specializing in health and life sciences (including neurosciences, medical informatics, cancer research, and rehabilitation) and computer sciences (including artificial intelligence, data science, and semantic web). In addition, we offer specialized services that support scientific advancement. iospress.com