Formalising the right for carers to be with loved ones ...

[chenrezig]

Imagine you wake up only to realise that you are in an unfamiliar place and it certainly isn’t your own bed. You hear lots of noises and realise that you are not alone and suddenly these strangers are entering your room. Scary sounding, isn’t it? That’s what it may be like for a person with dementia who is admitted to hospital. As a team, we are committed to always providing safe care for every individual. This can frequently be difficult when caring for a person with dementia or cognitive impairment, as they are often unable to show you what helps them and what may upset then at a time when they are already coping with a strange environment and lots of new faces. That is why we value and work collaboratively with carers and families: they know the person better than anyone else and are able to give valuable information about the person’s past, their likes and dislikes and what their normal routine is. They help us see the whole person.

Within our ward, we are very relaxed about visiting hours as we appreciate the value that this brings – helping to reassure a person who is disoriented, encouraging the person to eat and drink, participating with activities and helping to reduce feelings of anxiety, loneliness, isolation and often depression. When I heard about John’s Campaign, I knew that this was a simple but great idea that we wanted the ward to support. After all, we already do it really, and this is a terrific way to formalise the right for carers to be with the person, instead of it being an ad hoc principle that sometimes depends on individual staff values.

Only by working together with families and carers can we truly provide our most vulnerable patients with safe care.

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015 ... CMP=twt_gu

[annie]

tha22222

[maureenho]

tha22222 go90