A national evaluation of the Dementia Care in Hospitals Program.

Abstract

The Dementia Care in Hospitals Program (DCHP) is an all-of-hospital cognitive impairment (CI) awareness and communication program supported by cognitive screening of all patients aged 65 years and over, a training program for staff and a bedside alert, the Cognitive Impairment Identifier (CII). Baseline data shows that 34% of hospital patients 65+ have CI. This program aims to change the hospital care paradigm from one where all adults in hospital are expected to manage the complex demands of hospital care, to one where it is recognised that a change to the hospital support processes and environment is needed for those with CI.