Homely living room part of dementia care at Mercy Hospital Cork

A Cork hospital has brought about changes to one of its wards to make its environment less stressful for people with dementia, including introducing a homely living room to put patients at ease.

The three-year Cork integrated dementia care across settings (Cork-IDEAS) project began last year with the aim of improving and integrating dementia care in Mercy University Hospital.

Backed by social investment group Genio and the HSE, initial funding was used to provide a new dementia nurse specialist in the hospital, a dementia care co-ordinator in the community, dedicated resources for staff education in the hospital and community, and a pilot of in-home respite for people with dementia.