Etsuko Kikuchi, ReikoTsuji, Mariko Otsuka, Mitsuyo Azegami, Naoko Kunisawa, Yuu Maruyama, Natsuko Suka, AtsukoTanaka
20th East Asian Forum of Nursing Scholars(EAFONS), Mar 9, 2017
Aims: To clarify the current status, challenges, and necessary elements of interprofessional work (IPW) in discharge support for elderly patients with dementia in acute care hospitals.
Methods: Interviews were conducted with nurses and medical social workers (MSWs) in discharge support departments of acute care hospitals about the realities and challenges of IPW in discharge support for elderly patients. The elements necessary for such IPW were then extracted from the transcripts of these interviews and examined, with particular attention being given to their interrelationships.
Results: The occupations that liaised within the hospital to support elderly patients with dementia included physicians, nurses, and MSWs. Additionally, support was carried out with a view to patients’ lives after hospital discharge through partnerships with Regional Comprehensive Support Centers, care managers, administrative personnel, judicial clerks, and in-house counselors. The challenges facing the provision of support concerned screening for patients in need of such support, the need for certified nurses in dementia nursing and physicians able to provide dementia care counseling, the formation of multidisciplinary teams able to investigate methods of dementia care in a timely fashion, and the fact that stakeholders both inside and outside the hospital must share information on topics such as elderly patients with dementia and community services to facilitate the decision-making of elderly patients and their families.
Conclusions: The necessary elements of discharge support for elderly patients included (1) the presence of professional specialists that can predict the life dysfunction arising from dementia progression and (2) having mechanisms in place for the coordination of post-discharge support systems.