Care Home Project

The background

The Integrated Care Board (ICB) is supporting Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), Swindon, and Wiltshire (BSW) to improve dementia diagnosis rates.

Having a dementia diagnosis confirmed has the potential to transform the care the person receives. Enabling earlier access for people with dementia, their families, and carers to appropriate, information, advice and support can greatly improve quality of care and inform decision-making and future care planning.

But evidence shows that more than 67% of people in care homes have dementia. Many of which have not had a formal diagnosis. AWP is are therefore providing a bespoke care home memory assessment service to improve identification and diagnosis of dementia in care homes across BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire.

How will it work?

Mental Health clinicians will be working with care homes to complete an assessment specially designed to identify and diagnose dementia. The assessment tool is called DiADeM (Diagnosing Advanced Dementia Mandate) and includes cognitive testing and history taking.

We will aim to seek the consent of the person to carry out the assessment. However, if we feel that someone does not have the ability to consent to this assessment, we will discuss this with the care team, family and those with Power of Attorney.

Mental Health clinicians will contact family members, and care providers for information necessary to support the assessment.

After the assessment, the team will review the findings with the GP, relatives, and the care team to determine the diagnosis and other treatable conditions such as depression.

What happens next?

We aim to adopt a person-centred, holistic approach, working with residents, their relatives, care home teams, and other professionals to help everyone understand the diagnosis and the person’s needs, and provide support information and advice, guide and advise on care planning and decision-making, give information or to signpost families and carers as needed.

Benefits of the Care Home Project

Advice and support for families and the care home team
Improved understanding of the person’s needs.
A specialist assessment may identify other treatable conditions such as depression.
Other health and social care professionals will know about the diagnosis and will be better able to support the person with dementia, their families, and their care teams.
Family members will have earlier access to advice and information about dementia and its effects.
The diagnosis can inform future care planning and decision-making about treatment and symptom control.
Improved access to medication and/or therapies.

FAQs

Will this mean the person I care for will have to move?

No. A diagnosis of dementia will help the care home team better understand their needs, improve their ability to provide effective care and support to the family. The DiADeM tool is not used to assess social care needs.

Will the person I care for need additional investigations (such as blood tests/scans)?

No. Unless a clinical need is identified by the assessing team. In this case, the person and their family will be involved in discussing the options and the decision-making process.

Is this a replacement service for Memory Clinics or Care Home Liaison?

No. The DiADeM project is in addition to existing memory assessment or care home support services which can continue to be accessed in the usual way.