Dementia in the Geriatric Emergency Department

Main Learning Points

Morgan Daven at 8:55

Mr. Daven gave some practical examples of how community-based Alzheimer’s Associations can support your work in the ED.

Dr. Adam Perry at 16:10

Dr. Perry described the multiple ways in which dementia is important in the ED encounter: ability to get an accurate history and physical; ability for the patient to engage in and consent to treatment; ability to prepare a successful transition of care/discharge plan; ability to prevent behavioural problems. He provided some tips on how to improve our recognition of cognitive impairment

Dr. Chris Carpenter at 25:10

Dr. Carpenter reviewed three top tools – AD8, AMT4, Ottawa 3DY — for screening for cognitive impairment and critiqued them and made some suggestions for ways to integrate them into workflow.

Dr. Linda Schnitker at 34:00

Dr. Schnitker reviewed some of her work on establishing quality indicators for both structures and processes of care for ED patients with dementia.  She summarized ten strategies for meeting those standards of quality.

Dr. Michelle Moccia & Pamela Martin at 47:00

Dr. Moccia and Pam Martin gave practical tips for improving the care experience of older ED patients with dementia, including the TADA method (Tolerate;  Anticipate; Don’t Agitate); attempting to understand the meaning of “problematic” behaviours; avoiding infantilizing ageist speech.

Details

Goals

1. To reinforce the importance of dementia in the care of older ED patients.   
2. To review strategies for identifying dementia among older ED patients, including screening tools and processes. 
3. To suggest some quality indicators for excellent care of ED patients with dementia.  
4. To provide resources for improving the patient experience of ED patients with dementia and their carers. 

Expert Panel

Adam Perry, MD
GEDC Faculty, Emergency Physician, Geriatrician
Chris Carpenter, MD
GEDC Faculty, Emergency Physician
Linda Schnittker, RN, PhD
Nurse clinician, Researcher
Pam Martin, RN, MN
GEDC Faculty, Geriatric ED Nurse
Michelle Moccia, RN DNP, ANP-BC,CCRN, GS-C

Special Guest

Morgan Daven
Vice President, Health Systems, Alzheimer’s Association

Moderated By

Don Melady

MD

Bio

Dr. Don Melady is an emergency physician at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada and a founding member of the Geriatric Emergency Department Collaborative. He is the author of the website www.geri-EM.com – a CME accredited program for geriatric emergency medicine education – and the chair of the Geriatric EM committee of the International Federation of Emergency Medicine.

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