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Improving emotional well-being for hospital-based patients with dementia

Stephanie Petty (The Retreat York, York, UK and a Researcher with the Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK)
Amanda Griffiths (Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK)
Donna Maria Coleston (Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK)
Tom Dening (Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK)

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults

ISSN: 1471-7794

Article publication date: 18 December 2020

Issue publication date: 30 July 2021

489

Abstract

Purpose

Improving hospital care for people with dementia is a well-established priority. There is limited research evidence to guide nursing staff in delivering person-centred care, particularly under conditions where patients are emotionally distressed. Misunderstood distress has negative implications for patient well-being and hospital resources. The purpose of this study is to use the expertise of nurses to recommend ways to care for the emotional well-being of patients with dementia that are achievable within the current hospital setting.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative study was conducted in two long-stay wards providing dementia care in a UK hospital. Nursing staff (n = 12) were asked about facilitators and barriers to providing emotion-focused care. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Findings

Nursing staff said that resources existed within the ward team, including ways to gather and present personal information about patients, share multidisciplinary and personal approaches, work around routine hospital tasks and agree an ethos of being connected with patients in their experience. Staff said these did not incur financial cost and did not depend upon staffing numbers but did take an emotional toll. Examples are given within each of these broader themes.

Research limitations/implications

The outcome is a short-list of recommended staff actions that hospital staff say could improve the emotional well-being of people with dementia when in hospital. These support and develop previous research.

Originality/value

In this paper, frontline nurses describe ways to improve person-centred hospital care for people with dementia.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by The Retreat York as part of Stephanie Petty’s PhD studentship.Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Citation

Petty, S., Griffiths, A., Coleston, D.M. and Dening, T. (2021), "Improving emotional well-being for hospital-based patients with dementia", Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 56-67. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAOA-05-2020-0019

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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