NEWS RELEASE
NORTH EAST LHIN
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A patient-centred practice to enhance care of older patients with delirium at Anson General Hospital, in Iroquois Falls, will be in the provincial spotlight this week.
Anson General was invited by the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) to present its work at the Senior Friendly Care: Action and Beyond conference in Toronto. They will share their delirium assessment tools, treatment plan, and other resources which enhance seniors’ hospital care.
After remarks by Dr. Bob Bell, Deputy Minister of Health, and Gail Donner, Chair of the Expert Group on Home & Community Care, Anson’s Patsy Huber, Manager of Patient Care, and Pauline Theriault, RN, will participate in a panel discussion on the Senior Friendly Hospital Action Program.
Through the Senior Friendly Hospital Strategy, the North East Local Health Integration Network (NE LHIN) continues to work with our hospitals on quality improvement initiatives to enhance the care of seniors and reduce their risk of delirium and functional decline during a hospital stay.
The NE LHIN also supports assisted living services which help high risk seniors continue to live at home with support, and a fall prevention strategy that includes physical activity opportunities (free exercise and Stand Up classes found here on the NE LHIN website).
Huber says the Anson colleagues will explain efforts that began in spring 2015 to assess anyone 65 and older for confusion who was admitted to their hospital using the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) screen tool.
A positive screen would trigger blood work and urine samples, medication reviews, and initiation of electronic Patient Order Sets.
Patient Order Sets use technology supported by the NE LHIN to ensure that best practices are used in delivering standardized quality care to patients who have similar conditions.
Every Anson patient who is screened as positive for delirium receives this treatment. Non-pharmacological approaches are the first consideration for interventions.
Isabelle Boucher, Anson’s Director of Quality, Risk and Patient Safety, compiles and monitors quality improvement data to ensure compliance. The goal was to have 75 percent of patients screened for delirium. Anson’s staff achieved and exceeded that goal by engaging their physician group and staff to make assessment part of their hospital culture.
“The NE LHIN is very pleased to support the Senior Friendly Hospital effort to improve care for our older Northerners, and to see that this small hospital is making a big difference in the lives of the seniors that it serves,” said Christine Leclair, Cochrane Hub Officer, NE LHIN.
Other NE LHIN hospitals – Lady Minto in Cochrane and Bingham Memorial in Matheson – will be introducing Anson’s delirium screening and treatment tools, with staff-education champions from each site already in place.
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