Tips for Hospitalization

Hospitalization of a patient with dementia is a potentially stressful experience often associated with negative outcomes for both the patient and family. The majority of dementia care is provided in the home by family caregivers who have intimate knowledge of the patient’s preferences, schedule, communication, and comprehension abilities.

The Partner With Me (PWM) project was developed to educate and connect healthcare providers with family caregivers of our patients with memory impairment. Hopefully, a better understanding of the patient’s routine and adherence to these routines in the hospital will decrease the incidence of delirium and behavioral changes.

This project involved the development of a film and an educational packet for family caregivers of patients with cognitive impairments, as well as a questionnaire and a patient-specific care plan to be completed during hospitalization. The Partnering with Family Caregivers video emphasizes the importance of communicating patient-specific needs and routines to hospital staff at admission. The information and resources included in both the education packet and film provide family members with valuable resources and tips to improve their loved ones' care during and after hospitalization.

Preparation for Patients & Families

We hope to make your hospital stay more enjoyable. If you have any questions or comments, please ask any of our Partner With Me team members. Family Education Packets can be downloaded below or obtained from the Memory and Aging Center and UCSF Volunteer Office.

Preparation for Providers

We recognize that family caregivers of patients with memory issues often have extensive knowledge about their loved ones. The Partner With Me program will help the hospital staff learn about your loved one’s normal routines. We want to try our best to continue these routines as much as possible while your loved one is in the hospital. We want to understand your loved one’s personal choices and daily routines, including communication, grooming, food and fluid intake, medication use, activity level, and day/night schedules. We developed a series of questions to help us create a care plan tailored to your loved one's regular routines. We hope that by continuing the regular schedule as much as possible, we can minimize the stress and anxiety of being in the hospital. These documents can be downloaded below or obtained from the Memory and Aging Center. Our trained volunteers will collect the specific information to develop a detailed care plan for your loved one. The hospital staff will use this care plan to help them provide optimal care during your loved one’s stay. Our volunteers will also give you additional educational information when it is time to leave the hospital.

Developing Volunteers

We encourage more hospitals to train their own volunteers to interview family caregivers and complete questionnaires developed specifically for this program. These patient-specific care plans can then be posted in the patient’s room as well as in their chart. This information helps guide the staff and ancillary services on the most effective way to care for the patient. Volunteers can also provide support and activities to enrolled patients. Volunteer documents can be downloaded below or obtained from the Memory and Aging Center and UCSF Volunteer Office.

Partner With Me Team

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or suggestions.