Reducing dehydration in residents of care homes.
Dehydration can have serious consequences for older people and is a particular problem for residents of nursing and care homes. This article, the second in a two-part series, describes how a specialist care home for people with dementia in Great Yarmouth introduced high-quality hydration care to frail residents. By involving all staff and ensuring residents take a litre of fluid by the end of a relaxed and extended breakfast, staff have reduced anxiety and aggression and created a calmer and more sociable atmosphere. This has benefitted residents, visitors and staff, and is reflected in low levels of unplanned hospital admissions and paramedic call-outs.
Lee
L
Hooper
Suzan
S
Whitelock
Diane
D
Bunn
D000368:Aged; D003681:Dehydration / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004739:England; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D009735:Nursing Homes; D013222:State Medicine