Emotion-focused care requested by hospital patients with dementia via advance care planning

Petty, Stephanie; Coleston, Donna Maria; Dening, Tom; Griffiths, Amanda

Abstract

Background: This study responds to international pressures to improve hospital care for patients with dementia. Aim: To reach a concise overview of ways to improve the emotional wellbeing of patients with dementia when in hospital by exploring their personal care requests. Methods: Written advance care planning (ACP) documents completed by patients with dementia and their caregivers were retrieved from a UK hospital (n=21) and analysed using descriptive phenomenology. Findings: Care requests showed the changeable and personal nature of emotional distress and gave the responses that patients require from hospital staff. Responses included: attending to physical health, offering reassurance, being with the patient, treating the patient as a person and providing a different physical environment. Conclusion: ACP documents offered a structured tool for informing care with succinct, personalised requests of patients with dementia. Patient requests were consistent with extensive literature defining person-centred care. Increased use of ACP in hospitals requires evaluation.

Citation

Petty, S., Coleston, D. M., Dening, T., & Griffiths, A. (2020). Emotion-focused care requested by hospital patients with dementia via advance care planning. British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 16(1), 29-33. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjnn.2020.16.1.29

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 2, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Feb 25, 2020
• Publication Date: Feb 2, 2020
• Deposit Date: Dec 6, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 3, 2020
• Journal: British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing
• Print ISSN: 1747-0307
• Electronic ISSN: 2052-2800
• Publisher: Mark Allen Healthcare
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 29-33
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/bjnn.2020.16.1.29
• Keywords: Dementia; hospitals; nursing; emotions; qualitative approaches; general nursing; clinical neurology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3498797
• Publisher URL: https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/full/10.12968/bjnn.2020.16.1.29
• Additional Information: This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in British Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, copyright © MA Healthcare, after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/full/10.12968/bjnn.2020.16.1.29