Enhancing the ADMIT Me Tool for Care Transitions for Individuals With Alzheimer's Disease

Barriers and facilitators to the use of personal information documents in health and social care settings for people living with dementia: A thematic synthesis and mapping to the COM-B framework

INTRODUCTION

People living with dementia experience communication difficulties. Personal information documents, or healthcare passports, enable communication of information essential for the care of a person with dementia. Despite the potential for providing person-centred care, personal information documents are not ubiquitously used. The Capability Opportunity Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) model can be used to understand factors determining individuals' behaviours.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to identify the barriers to and facilitators of the use of healthcare passports for people living with dementia through a systematic review methodology.

METHODS

A systematic search of six electronic databases was undertaken. Grey literature was searched using three databases. All study types reporting barriers to or facilitators of the use of personal information documents in the care of adults living with dementia in high-income countries were included. Study quality was assessed using the NICE Quality Appraisal Checklist. Thematic synthesis was used to develop descriptive themes, which were subsequently mapped to the COM-B framework.

RESULTS

Nineteen papers were included. Themes included training, awareness, embedding the process in norms and appreciating the value of the personal information documents. A broad range of barriers and facilitators was identified within each COM-B domain.

CONCLUSION

This framework provides a starting point for evidence-informed initiatives to improve the use of personal information documents in the care of people with dementia.

PATIENT AND PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

This is a review of studies and did not involve patients or the public. Review results will guide evaluation of a local personal information document, which will be designed with input from the Dementia Champions Network (includes carers and other stakeholders).

How do person‐centered outcome measures enable shared decision‐making for people with dementia and family carers?—A systematic review

Objectives

To identify published evidence on person‐centered outcome measures (PCOMs) used in dementia care and to explore how PCOMs facilitate shared decision‐making and improve outcomes of care. To build a logic model based on the findings, depicting linkages with PCOM impact mechanisms and care outcomes.

Design

Mixed‐methods systematic review. We searched PsycINFO, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and ASSIA from databases and included studies reporting experiences and/or impact of PCOM use among people with dementia, family carers, and/or practitioners. Groen Van de Ven's model of collaborative deliberation informed the elements of shared decision‐making in dementia care in the abstraction, analysis, and interpretation of data. Data were narratively synthesized to develop the logic model.

Setting

Studies were conducted in long‐term care, mixed settings, emergency department, general primary care, and geriatric clinics.

Participants

A total of 1064 participants were included in the review.

Results

Ten studies were included. PCOMs can facilitate shared decision‐making through “knowing the person,” “identifying problems, priorities for care and treatment and goal setting,” “evaluating decisions”, and “implementation considerations for PCOM use.” Weak evidence on the impact of PCOMs to improve communication between individuals and practitioners, physical function, and activities of daily living.

Conclusions

PCOMs can enable shared decision‐making and impact outcomes through facilitating collaborative working between the person's network of family and practitioners to identify and manage symptoms and concerns. The constructed logic model demonstrates the key mechanisms to discuss priorities for care and treatment, and to evaluate decisions and outcomes. A future area of research is training for family carers to use PCOMs with practitioners.

Personal information documents for people with dementia: Healthcare staff ’s perceptions and experiences

Person-centred care is internationally recognised as best practice for the care of people with dementia. Personal information documents for people with dementia are proposed as a way to support person-centred care in healthcare settings. However, there is little research about how they are used in practice. The aim of this study was to analyse healthcare staff ’s perceptions and experiences of using personal information documents, mainly Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘This is me’, for people with dementia in healthcare settings. The method comprised a secondary thematic analysis of data from a qualitative study, of how a dementia awareness initiative affected care for people with dementia in one healthcare organisation. The data were collected through 12 focus groups (n = 58 participants) and 1 individual interview, conducted with a range of healthcare staff, both clinical and non-clinical. There are four themes presented: understanding the rationale for personal information documents; completing personal information documents; location for personal information documents and transfer between settings; impact of personal information documents in practice. The findings illuminated how healthcare staff use personal information documents in practice in ways that support person-centred care. Practical issues about the use of personal information documents were revealed and these may affect the optimal use of the documents in practice. The study indicated the need to complete personal information documents at an early stage following diagnosis of dementia, and the importance of embedding their use across care settings, to support communication and integrated care.

Emergency Department Use by Community-Dwelling Individuals With Dementia in the United States: An Integrative Review

As part of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease, reducing potentially avoidable emergency department (ED) use by individuals with dementia has been identified as a component of enhancing the quality and efficiency of care for this population. To help inform the development of interventions to achieve this goal, an integrative review was conducted to: (a) compare rates and reasons for ED visits by community-dwelling individuals with and without dementia, considering also the effect of dementia subtype and severity; and (b) identify other risk factors for increased ED use among community-dwelling individuals with dementia. Nineteen articles met inclusion criteria. Individuals with dementia had higher rates of ED visits compared to those without dementia, although differences were attenuated in the last year of life. Increased symptoms and disability were associated with increased rates of ED visits, whereas resources that enabled effective management of increased need decreased rates. Gerontological nurses across settings are on the frontlines of preventing potentially avoidable ED visits by community-dwelling individuals with dementia through patient and family education and leadership in the development of new models of care. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 44(3), 23-30.].