title: Hospital Dementia Services Project: aged care and dementia services in New South Wales hospitals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the availability of aged care and dementia services in public hospitals in New South Wales (NSW), Australia in 2006/2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hospitals were surveyed about issues relevant to dementia in acute care including the types of aged care wards and staff, policies, practices, clinics, community services and resources for dementia care.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Responses were obtained from 163 hospitals (82%); responding hospitals represented 93.4% of NSW hospital beds, 96.7% of multiday episodes of care. Hospitals that had a Specialist Mental Health Service for Older People (SMHSOP) and an Aged Care Service (ACS) had the highest levels of dementia-related services and policies. Few hospitals without ACS or SMHSOP had clinics for dementia assessment, secure beds for disturbed behaviour, or services to manage patients with dementia and medical or behavioural comorbidity in the community.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dementia services in NSW hospitals are closely aligned with ACS and SMHSOP, with limited dementia services in hospitals without ACS or SMHSOP.
authors: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors: Brian
authors: B
authors: Draper
authors: Charles
authors: C
authors: Hudson
authors: Ann
authors: A
authors: Peut
authors: Rosemary
authors: R
authors: Karmel
authors: Natalie
authors: N
authors: Chan
authors: Diane
authors: D
authors: Gibson
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006742:Hospital Bed Capacity; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009517:New South Wales; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: acute geriatrics; dementia; hospitals; service delivery