The hospital crisis, which is on everyone’s mind, should not make us forget the initiatives implemented by the teams on the field. Because hospital stays can exacerbate loss of independence and increase problems for a person with Alzheimer’s disease, initiatives are being developed to make the hospital “Alzheimer’s friendly,” with procedures that promote welcoming and caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease.
The demographic shift leads to an increasingly frequent reception of the elderly, especially the most fragile among them who suffer from cognitive disorders.
To give the teams the means to advance this process, the Médéric Alzheimer Foundation, in partnership with the French Hospital Federation (FHF) and FEHAP, has launched the call for projects “Towards an Alzheimer-Friendly Hospital”, with a grant of €50,000.
Applicants will have until August 15, 2023 to submit an application. All information will be online on the websites of the FHF, FEHAP, and the Médéric Alzheimer Foundation. The winners will be announced on September 21, 2023, on the occasion of World Alzheimer’s Day.
The initiatives must be implemented by a health structure and fall within the five areas of action identified in the guide “References 3. Improving reception of elderly people with cognitive disorders in emergencies”:
- Identifying elderly people with cognitive impairment
2. Identify the role and status of caregivers
3. Training and awareness of the culture of aging and Alzheimer’s disease
4. Space conditioning
5. Aim for a global approach
This call for projects is open to any health structure that would welcome people with Alzheimer’s disease:
- Emergency and hospital services (cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, etc.)
- Day hospitals in short-stay institutions (medicine, surgery and obstetrics)
- Administrative services
- Aftercare and rehabilitation services
- mental health facilities
- Outpatient services
Motto: Creativity
For 10 years, the Foundation has put forward initiatives that are part of an Alzheimer’s friendly hospital:
- Geriatric Room (GCS HUGO): A modular room adapted to aging, in order to improve the quality of elderly care through the modernization of hospital rooms.
- System ” Fast Track » : The Emergency Department of Ambroise Paré Hospital (Boulogne) has prepared a decision-making algorithm which allows admission as soon as possible to the short-term hospitalization unit for elderly people coming from the emergency room, in order to reduce waiting time.
- Aesthetic social care of people living with Alzheimer’s disease in Zuydcoote’s SSR (59).
- In order to improve patient support and care, the center does the hospital
Intermunicipal Caux Vallée de Seine (76) has implemented international projects within the Departments of Emergency, Imaging and Outpatient Surgery. The actions are organized according to several axes: training, development of premises and venues and implementation of non-pharmacological approaches.
This call for projects can finance, among other things: training, human time, purchase of equipment, communication tools, evaluation procedures … Innovative projects will be given priority, but projects aimed at separating existing initiatives will also be able to advance
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