The Dementia Service Development Centre (DSDC), University of Scotland
Case Study
The Dementia Service Development Centre (DSDC), University of Scotland
University of Stirling, Scotland
Selected to be part of a showcase supporting best practice in dementia care
The Dementia Service Development Centre (DSDC) at University of Stirling has been a leading international centre of knowledge and expertise, dedicated to improving the lives of people living with dementia for the past 25 years and advising those designing dementia care environments. Courtney Thorne’s wireless nurse call technology was selected to be part of an international technology showcase that supports best practice in dementia care.
The DSDC’s Design and Technology Suite showcases inspiring technology and equipment that can make a real difference to the day-to-day lives of people living with dementia and their carers. Designed by BPA Architecture, the facility comprises two en-suite rooms and a sitting room/kitchenette layout that demonstrate best practice in design for dementia residents and incorporate technology to support excellence in dementia care.
Courtney Thorne’s wireless nurse call systems were specified for the DSDC Design and Technology Suite to highlight the flexibility and dementia-friendly features that wireless technology can offer to the healthcare professionals and carers who visit the centre from around the world.
"The Design and Technology Suite aims to showcase some of the technical innovations available to professionals to help them implement best practice in dementia care. Courtney Thorne’s experience of specialist dementia environments and understanding of the needs of patients, staff and management teams was clear from the outset and the company has provided a system that clearly shows how flexible a wireless nurse call system can be in terms of both functionality and data capture." Shirley Law, Head of Learning & Development
Exceptional design features and accurate data capture
Courtney Thorne’s wireless nurse call system was selected for its exceptional design features and the accurate data capture it provides:
- At the point of use, the call button is easy to hold and press for patients. It includes a pictogram symbol that aids recognition in people living with dementia.
- The system is fully programmable to meet the needs of individual patients or care environments.
- The system’s flexibility supports futureproofing and enables changes to be made quickly and easily with no ‘dirty works’ to wiring, minimising disruption.
- The nurse call system can be used in silent mode, preventing noise that people living with dementia can find distressing.
- Staff can carry receivers in their pockets to instantly alert them of a call when they are away from the nurses’ station.
- The system includes pressure sensors that can be placed in the bed to alert staff if patients wander during the night.
- The data capture provided by the system can be used by management to plan staffing levels and care regimes.
- Data from the nurse call system can also be used to provide evidence-based proof of call frequency and response times.
Courtney Thorne’s wireless nurse call technology has also been proven to support best practice dementia care in a number of hospitals, including the Forget-Me-Not unit at Warrington Hospital.
Lee Bushell from Warrington Hospital explains: “Any hospital ward needs to use management information to monitor standards of care and plan staffing levels. In a dementia unit that’s particularly important because staff ratios need to be higher and patients often become disoriented and may complain that nurses have taken too long to respond. The data recorded by the Courtney Thorne system ensures we have accurate information about response rates, helping us reassure relatives of the standard of care.”
