The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has launched a study of the health outcomes for hospital patients with dementia.

 

The Hospital Dementia Services Project is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council to investigate how health and aged care system factors influence care outcomes for hospital patients with dementia.

 

People with dementia have comparatively high rates of hospitalisation and longer hospital stays which has an impact on their physical and mental wellbeing.

 

The project focuses on patients aged 50 or over who had an overnight stay in a public hospital in New South Wales during 2006-07.

 

The study will describe hospital services and models, including dementia specific items; measure and quantify the provision of aged care services across regions; profile and compare hospital stays and post-hospital outcomes for people with and without dementia; and test for association between system factors and patient and hospital outcomes.

 

More information is here.