Designing Dementia Care Pathways to Transform Non Dementia-Friendly Hospitals: Scoping Review

Jorge Riquelme-Galindo and Manuel Lillo-Crespo
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Jorge Riquelme-Galindo: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
Manuel Lillo-Crespo: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-18

Abstract: People with dementia (PwD) occupy around 25% of the hospital beds. Once PwD are admitted to hospitals, their cognitive impairment is not considered in most of the cases. Thus, it causes an impact on the development of the disease becoming a stressful situation as care plans are not adapted to PwD. The aim of this study was to explore the published core elements when designing a dementia care pathway for hospital settings. A scoping review was conducted to provide an overview of the available research evidence and identify the knowledge gaps regarding the topic. This review highlights person-centered care, compassionate care and end-of-life process as some of the key elements that should integrate the framework when designing a dementia care pathway. Architectonical outdoor and indoor hospital elements have also been found to be considered when adapting the healthcare context to PwD. Findings provide information about the key points to focus on to successfully design dementia interventions in hospital environments within available resources, mostly in those contexts in which national dementia plans are in its infancy. Hospitals should transform their patients’ routes and processes considering the increasing demographic changes of people with cognitive impairment.

Keywords: built environment; dementia; Alzheimer’s disease and associated disorders; clinical pathway; environment design; care pathway (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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