"Dementia Companions"

My mother was recently a patient on ward 42. Although she has a diagnosis of Alzheimers, she understands what is being said to her although to respond to questions she requires time and patience. 

When an inpatient she was reluctant to eat and she did not like the food options she was given. I was not initially asked about her food choices. 

However when the dementia companions Sheila and Josephine were on the ward things changed for the better. They asked me to fill out a form with all mum's likes and dislikes, how she liked to be approached, who her relatives were and what she was interested in. Then the staff could communicate properly with mum if they read this document.  The information on this form provided everything staff required to provide personalised, individualised care as should be. 

For a patient with dementia who has difficulty expressing their needs how could the care be unique to mum if no one ever asked family for this information? 

Regarding the food choices Sheila and Josephine took time to monitor mum at meal times to see which foods she did actually like so they could re order. They also got food from the fridge which I had provided and gave it to mum when she refused to eat the food provided by the hospital. Mum required prompting at meal times, she did not require staff to feed her.

 Josephine and Sheila were able to take the time to prompt mum which meant she was once again independent with eating and drinking. 

Before the dementia companions came to the ward, staff were feeding mum. When I asked why, one staff member stated this was quicker as they didn't have time to prompt. Unfortunately other staff then copy and make an assumption she required feeding. 

In my opinion the input from dementia companions is essential when a person with a diagnosis of dementia is an inpatient in hospital. I can only speak from my experience of these two particular dementia companions and they were excellent.  Excellent at communicating with mum, excellent at identifying mum's needs as they changed. They were extremely caring and compassionate. I am truly grateful for their input. Because of these ladies mum was able to maintain a level of independence which would otherwise have been lost.