Welfare Reform on the Web (October 2011): Care of the elderly - UK

Dementia special issue: promoting high quality care - environmental and care delivery issues

A. Innes (guest editor)

Journal of Care Services Management, vol.5, 2011, p. 125-167

Dementia care environments include the policy context, physical location of care provision, and psychosocial dynamics of care delivery. These need to be considered together in a holistic manner. The papers in this special issue highlight how policy can influence local practices, the range of design features within care homes that contribute to the experience of physical environments, and in particular how balconies can be used to facilitate engagement with outside spaces. A paper on the creation of dementia specialist areas within large scale environments provides a case study of how environments that are subject to critique can be adapted to provide high quality care facilities for those with dementia. The final paper considers how caregivers interact and relate to people with dementia. This special issue thus highlights a range of key issues to consider when developing dementia care environments for the future.

Designing a community safety net for dementia

A. Qazi

Health Service Journal, Sept. 15th 2011, p. 26-27

Based on personal experience, the author describes how hospital admissions for older people with dementia can be reduced through a series of small practical steps. The approach has three main elements: improved access to consultant expertise for primary care and nursing home staff, better staff training and development, and liaison between services to prevent people falling through the net.