Summary
Hospitals in England have been conducting case-finding of people with dementia among older people, who were admitted on an unplanned basis, since 2012/13; although the methods to be used were undefined. A recent article investigates the views of staff about the various approaches to dementia case-finding in English acute hospitals.
Three main themes emerged: (i) the lack of a consistent approach in case-finding processes, (ii) barriers between primary and secondary care, which can result in different case-finding outcomes and health inequalities, and (iii) unexpected variations in professionals’ perceptions concerning the rationale, aims and / or potential impact(s) of dementia case-finding, with possibly conflicting priorities across primary care and secondary care.
More evidence is required to be able to justify a suitably systematic approach to dementia case-finding (if such exists), the authors conclude.
Reference
Burn, AM. Fleming, J. Brayne, C. Fox, C. [and] Bunn, F. (2018). Dementia case-finding in hospitals: a qualitative study exploring the views of healthcare professionals in English primary care and secondary care. BMJ Open. March 17th 2018; 8(3): e020521.
