Dementia Research Project

VETERANS BEING ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL WHEN LIVING WITH DEMENTIA

When someone living with dementia is admitted to hospital they find is a frightening experience and often they are alone and confused. Families have reported that some places do not understand the differing needs of Veterans living with dementia and we want to work with families and friends to create a new Veterans protocol for hospital admissions

RESPECTING SERVICE

We have heard of so many occasions when Veterans have become angry either through trigger points, hallucinations or the way they have been spoken to. There have been occasions when security guards have been called to calm veterans down. We want to include methods to handle these areas in a more calming way

FAMILY INVOLVEMENT IN CARE PLANS

We often have families say that they have not seen the care plans for their loved ones. They feel that the lived experience will help shape care plans and make the staff better aware of life at home and how to handle trigger points or changes in behaviours

LIFESTYLE AND WELLBEING ACTIVITES IN HOSPITAL CARE

We are aware of the challenges that are faced by Veterans when in hospital and the hours or boredom can lead to behaviour changes, wandering and also triggering memories from the past. We would like to work with the NHS in expanding their Dementia Volunteer Services and suggesting activities that could be provided to relieve the boredom and have greater interactiion

TRIGGER POINTS

The Majority of Veterans who are living with Dementia have trigger points from teir time serving our Country, Families will know what these are on the whole. We want to see these included in the care plans also with details on how to handle these.

THE DISCHARGE PROCESS

Many concerns are raised about ensuring that everything is in place before a loved one goes home. , Through our project we will welcome the feed back from the families about the challenges of discharge and also the need to have a clear understanding of any difference behaviours during the transistions tfrom hospital care back to living at home or care homes

If you are a Veterans living with Dementia or a loved one who support some with Dementia, we would like to hear your thoughts on ways to approve the care of your loved one in hospital so we can include this in our research. We also want to hear from the NHS who want to explore ways to manage challenges faced when nursing a veteran living with dementia