Move from ward to home-style unit benefits dementia patients
Greater levels of relaxation, improved sleep patterns and less need for restraint were among the benefits noted in a study of the effects of moving dementia patients from the traditional hospital ward into a customised dementia unit modelled on an old-style Irish country home.
The research, the first of its kind in an Irish context, was conducted at Mount Carmel Community Hospital, Clonakilty, Co Cork, where a 14-bed special care dementia unit opened over two years ago. Existing hospital wards were transformed into bedrooms and living space redesigned to reflect a patient’s home rather than traditional hospital accommodation. Typical shop fronts in Clonakilty were painted on corridor walls in an effort to recreate the world patients were familiar with.
