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P2‐239: Palliative care for people with dementia in long‐term care
Author(s) -
Cisek Edward,
Levine Jed,
Wyatt Ann
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2015.06.779
Subject(s) - dementia , nursing , unit (ring theory) , palliative care , pharmacy , presentation (obstetrics) , work (physics) , psychology , long term care , medicine , medical education , engineering , disease , mechanical engineering , mathematics education , pathology , radiology
Project Description: For the past 30 months, the NYC Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association has been working with three NYC nursing homes to adapt the “Comfort Matters” approach to care of people with advanced dementia in long term care settings, developed by Beatitudes Campus in Phoenix, Arizona. Beatitudes Campus has invested considerable research and training into expanding knowledge and practice in the area of residentially-based care for people with advanced dementia, and Comfort Matters is the dementia-capable palliative approach they have developed. The presentation will focus on the key concepts of Comfort Matters, as well as the key organizational adaptations that need to be addressed by long term care facilities planning to incorporate these improved care practices. The Chapter’s work with the three nursing homes sites (and the three hospices with whom they interact) involved an initial training and education phase, a year-long pilot phase on one dementia unit in each facility, and a second year focused on sustaining and spreading the improved practices. The work of the Chapter in this project also involved a robust, fivecomponent evaluation that looked at staff knowledge and attitude, cost, pharmacy usage, resident outcomes, and overall dementia unit characteristics; findings from this evaluation will also be shared. One of the several findings from this project has been how to more effectivey use the MDS to address the needs of residents. The key concepts that form the basis for the practice improvements that the three facilities have worked to implement include better identification and treatment of pain, reduction/elimination of weight loss, reduction/elimination of sundowning, meaningful engagement for residents no matter how advanced the dementia, and the reduction/elimination of anti-psychotics, sedatives, anxiolytics.