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Abstract

Dementia is a growing public health problem, which may be under-recognised and poorly managed in regional hospitals. With projections of increasing dementia among older adults in regional and rural areas, knowledge about dementia and capacity of professionals to provide best-evidence care is paramount. This research investigates the challenges of dementia care in a publicly funded regional hospital in Australia. The study elucidates prevalence of dementia-related admissions, costs of treatment, length of stay and capacity for dementia care. A mixed methodology was employed in this study, including analysis of hospital records (N = 2405), dementia knowledge surveys (n = 50) and semi-structured interviews with clinical staff (n = 13). Hospital records showed that dementia-related admissions were lower than population prevalence reported in regional Australia. Dementia patients, however, attracted significantly higher treatment costs and greater length of stay than age-matched admissions who did not have a diagnosis of dementia. Clinicians reported several obstacles to effective dementia care, including staff knowledge deficits, environmental challenges, resource constraints and organisational factors.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Annear, MJ and Lucas, P
Keywords:	dementia, barriers, care quality, regional hospital
Journal or Publication Title:	International Journal of Ageing and Later Life
Publisher:	Linkoeping University Electronic Press
ISSN:	1652-8670
DOI / ID Number:	https://doi.org/10.3384/ijal.1652-8670.17344
Copyright Information:	copyright the Authors 2018. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Related URLs:	Google Scholar: Annear, MJ Google Scholar: Lucas, P UTAS Profile: Lucas, P
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