Improving the quality of life for people with dementia – new BSI guidance shows you how

Press release - 15 April 2010

A new publication will ensure that care provider organizations such as hospital wards and care homes have comprehensive guidance to assist them in the Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) process.

PAS 800 Use of Dementia Care Mapping for person-centred care in a provider organization – Guide should ultimately lead to improved well-being and quality of life for people with dementia.

Developed with the University of Bradford and a panel of healthcare experts, PAS 800 (Publicly Available Specification) will ensure that care provider organizations such as hospital wards and care homes have comprehensive guidance to assist them in the Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) process.

In the 1980s, DCM was developed as a process for evaluating the quality of care from the perspective of the person with dementia. It involves observing a number of people with dementia over a period, recording information about their experience of care, analyzing and interpreting the data and then feeding it back to staff. That information is used to form an action plan to make improvements to well-being and quality of life.

PAS 800 provides a guide to the principles of, and recommendations for, the use of DCM. Intended for providers of care homes, nursing homes, hospital wards, day care and interim care services, it offers clear guidance on the components of DCM, including the DCM observation stage, face-to-face feedback with staff, action planning and implementation.

Claire Surr of Bradford Dementia Care Group, based in the School of Health Studies, University of Bradford, who led the PAS 800 Steering Group, said:

"PAS 800 is an important milestone in the development of DCM and the quality of dementia care. It draws together best practice gathered over the last 25 years of DCM to ensure that those involved in the process have clear guidance to assist them.

We view this standard as complimentary to the Department of Health’s Dementia Strategy, which aims to improve services for those with dementia.

There are around 700,000 people living with dementia in the UK today and this figure is set to rise. Dementia Care Mapping presents clear benefits for the person with dementia. We know that the small things which create joy or distress in a person’s life are very easy to miss in the course of general care but can be picked up clearly in the mapping process and addressed, offering a greater opportunity for well-being.

There are also benefits for the care provider or facility including increased specialist knowledge, reduced staff turn-over and a shared language across different professions and management and care. PAS 800 demonstrates how these benefits can be delivered.

I strongly encourage those with an interest in the area of Dementia Care Mapping to read PAS 800."

Who would use PAS 800?

PAS 800 will be of interest to anyone who offers care to people with dementia, including managers of care homes, nursing homes, hospital wards, day care or interim care services. It will help in any situation where many people who use your services live with moderate to severe dementia.

Read more and buy at https://shop.bsigroup.com/pas800

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Other BSI publications of interest:

PAS 900 Code of Practice for Wheelchair Passport Schemes

A wheelchair 'passport' presents the key information needed by carers, transport providers, drivers and passenger assistants. Correct use of a passport can help with the safe transport of wheelchair users when being driven on roads. It aims to present the information in a consistent way, so it is easily accessible. PAS 900 is a 'best practice' guide to using wheelchair passport scheme so that anyone using wheelchairs, is conveyed as safely as possible.

Coming soon - guidance for rehabilitation providers

PAS 150 Providing rehabilitation services. Code of practice

If you provide rehabilitation services (in health, social care or the employment sector), then this new guide will help you achieve better quality care for people with any disability or health condition. PAS 150 will help you improve the quality, efficiency, value and outcomes of the rehabilitation services you provide. It gives recommendations for anyone working in residential facilities, specialist centres and other local community-based services. PAS 150 emphasizes encouraging independence and autonomy, to meet service-users short- and long-term needs, so they can live as they wish.