Geriatrics and Gerontology

Biography

Biography: Leslie Gillies

Abstract

Gentle Persuasive Approaches (GPA) in Dementia Care, a program designed for staff caring for patients in long term care who exhibit challenging behaviors was implemented and has been sustained in an acute care setting. Outcomes include fewer codes indicating violent situations, a reduction in physical restraint and sitter use, and fewer reports of safety incidents involving agitated patients. GPA in Dementia Care, a person-centered curriculum designed to improve staff confidence when working with patients who exhibit behavioral symptoms was successfully implemented in multiple acute care units and departments. This was the first time that this program, designed for long-term care, was implemented for staff in acute care setting across a large multi-site organization. Key factors that affected ability to sustain the program included adopting and adapting a previously well received, established curriculum (at present > 200,000 staff in settings in Canada have participated); relevance for staff, managers, other stakeholders, and senior leadership; engaging teams and groups to facilitate sustainability; involving leaders; integrating knowledge into policies; and pursuing sources of 1-time funding to demonstrate the benefit of dedicating operating funding to ongoing sustainability efforts. GPA is a tangible and effective intervention to support improvement of the patient experience in the acute care hospital setting.