Safer hospital care for dementia patients

A recent Australian study examined the impact of implementing a clinician-carer communication tool for hospitalised patients with dementia. The results indicated that the use of this simple, low-cost "Top 5" communication tool for patient care is associated with improvements in both the clinician and the care experience, with a potential benefit for patient safety.

Improving clinician–carer communication for safer hospital care: a study of the ‘TOP 5’ strategy in patients with dementia examined 21 Australian hospitals over a year, after which clinicians and carers reported high levels of acceptability and perceived benefits for patients.  

Karen Luxford , Anne Axam , Fiona Hasnip , John Dobrohotoff , Maureen Strudwick , Rebecca Reeve , Changhao Hou , Rosalie Viney.  International Journal for Quality in Health Care. 2015. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzv026. 

Full-text available through CIAP for NSW Health employees.