Change and Technology

July has seen the easing of some of the restrictions placed upon us, thank goodness. The Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Nurse Consultants group wanted to use this blog to say thank you to the many people who supported patients, friends and families of those who needed to come into hospital during the past few months.

The loneliness and isolation many people felt living at home is very different to the loneliness and isolation that must have prevailed for patients in hospital unable to have any face to face contact with significant people in their lives. Traditionally the “Visiting Hour” would be readied for, wards would be cleaned and tidied, patients would be “tidied” and the feeling of anticipation would grow culminating in the opening of the door. The importance of contact with people who care for us when we are in hospital has always been recognised, even although it has only been very recently that access has been made easier and more plentiful for patients.

The pandemic has seen many examples of kindness and caring and this thank you records fabulous stories that made the best of this difficult situation. I am pleased to say that there is far too many to fully do justice to all the people who went out of their way to do something to help others at this time. I hope you recognise yourself here?

You may identify with the sentiments of living under the same Sun, Moon or Stars to bring you closer to people you love who live far away, but whoever recognised that the sharing of identical knitted hearts could bring so much comfort to many people was a genius. The sharing of the hearts happened because so many people gave their time to knit the hearts and have them delivered to hospitals all over Scotland.

Having something that could be held was quite soothing for people. A dementia champion shared a story of a person in her area having 2 different hearts, one for her daughter who was at home and 1 for husband who was also in hospital. Staff would make sure she always had the correct heart whenever she was supported to videocall her daughter or her husband.

It felt strange for staff to support patients to videocall other patients in the same hospital, usually every opportunity would be taken to support a person to person visit but, with lockdown, visiting was reduced to any form of technical connection that staff could get their hands on. I feel so sorry for anyone who had planned to buy an ipad as a gift in the early part of this pandemic. The donations that came in to hospitals across Scotland were overwhelming and I know that NHS boards in Scotland also bought so many for patients to use that the stock of them was completely drained. You couldn’t buy one anywhere I am told. They were certainly put to good use. There are many heart warming stories of how they were used to connect people in very many ways.

You will have heard about the virtual appointments with Consultants having a huge impact on reducing waiting lists, removing over crowded waiting rooms and also having the comfort of your own home to wait if clinics were a bit behind. It didn’t stop there, the use of the same technology allowed virtual partners to be involved when discussions were taking place around the bedside with patients, where traditionally having a person at the bedside would happen infrequently, and while this is no comfort for those who could have been there in person, going forward it will make such a difference to family who may not live close by. A Consultant colleague explained that being able to get information or clarification from family was such a benefit for patients during ward consultations and also in supporting decisions that needed to made, especially where the person who had Power of Attorney could be fully involved. Let’s hope we may see an end to waiting for appointments just to catch up on what is happening with someone you care for while they are in hospital.

One aspect of the role of the Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Nurse Consultants has been about upskilling the workforce, using the Promoting Excellence Framework as a tool to ensure all staff, clinical and non-clinical, have the necessary skills to support people with dementia in hospital. Creating new ways of supporting people with dementia in hospital, during the absence of family, friends and carers, demonstrated these very skills, experience and commitment that is held by staff in all settings. A dementia Champion explained how the use of Getting to Know Me https://www.alzscot.org/living-with-dementia/health-and-social-care-professionals/hospital-care/getting-to-know-me really helped. “We became responsible for not just clinical care but also for socialising and entertainment in many cases” It was described as a tool to support communication with family, to involve the family or significant person in supporting decisions about care. It formed part of family updates as socialisation information became important for family to hear about. Using the Getting to Know Me so well demonstrates that staff fully understand their role in understanding the individual needs of a person with dementia and that staff are able to provide high quality person centred care when they have the time and space to deliver this. It is a testament to the Promoting Excellence Framework and the Dementia Champion programme that this has been achieved.

We couldn’t forget about the huge contribution that the army of volunteers provided during this time. We have seen music in the courtyards of many hospitals provided by bands, singers and pipers. The creation of a Hospital Newspaper with quizzes and puzzles to stimulate the mind and keep people in touch with good news stories.

Donations from multiple companies of pyjamas and nightwear, toiletries and snacks, donated for patients use at a time when nothing from home was being accepted into hospitals, distribution of all of this was supported mainly by volunteers.

Volunteers supporting projects to let some essential items for patients come in to hospital and they then became the “postmaster” to accept parcels and make sure they got to the right person. It couldn’t have happened without them and for this and more they deserve a huge thank you from all of us.

If anyone has been missed it has been unintentional.

Alas, still no hairdressers!

Contributor
Sandra Shields @sandrewshields
Alzheimer Scotland Nurse Consultant, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde