Dementia Care in Hospitals Program

Dementia Care in Hospitals program is an eLearning portal, designed to support hospital staff with the identification, communication and support of patients (and their carers) with a cognitive impairment.
 

Background

	Cognitive Impairment Identifier

The Dementia Care in Hospitals Program (DCHP), led by Associate Professor Mark Yates (Consultant physician, geriatric medicine at Grampians Health), was introduced in Ballarat Health Services in 2003.

The program aims to improve the experience of patients with cognitive impairment in hospital acute settings. Cognitive impairment is defined as the range of thinking and memory difficulties which may affect a person’s ability to understand and communicate and can limit a person’s ability to respond to their environment.  

Cognitively impaired patients are at higher risk of experiencing adverse hospital acquired complications including urinary tract infection, pressure injury, pneumonia, and delirium. It has been recognised as necessary to screen and identify patients with cognitive impairment, for hospitals to change practice in the way care is given to these patients and for hospital staff to improve their awareness of, and communication with, patients with cognitive impairment.  

A key element to practice change in hospitals is education. The DCHP National Project developed all-of-hospital education resources – for clinical staff e.g., nurses and doctors, and for non-clinical staff including food service, cleaning, and other ancillary staff – to improve the communication and support provided by all hospital staff in the care of patients with cognitive impairment. The program is linked to the use of the cognitive impairment identifier that is endorsed by Dementia Australia. 

The DCHP is available in hospitals nationally, including in Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.

Outcomes

Two web-based education programs have been developed, for clinical and non-clinical staff. These include PowerPoint type slide presentation, personal anecdote video and appropriate Multiple-Choice Questions to confirm understanding.  

Technical Features

CeRDI, together with Professor Britt Klein, Director of the Centre for Biopsychosocial and eHealth Research and Innovation at Federation University, developed the web-based education package for the Dementia Care in Hospitals Program.  

The site was developed using the education software, Moodle. This enabled the presentation of video and static slides, Multiple Choice Questions, and monitoring and recording participation and progress.