Activity Kit Improving Care for Dementia Patients at WellStar Kennestone Hospital

 Shared Governance Council members with initial activity kit: Standing, Chad Dupree, RN, and Suzanne Wood, RN; sitting, Dorothy Clark, CCP; Emily Segars, RN; and Rhonda Sugalski, RN.

Thanks to Suzanne Wood, RN, on WellStar Kennestone Hospital’s 6 Blue West, and the WellStar Foundation, patients with dementia have new activity kits.

In Sept. 2011, Kennestone was designated as a NICHE hospital (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders). One component of the program is training RNs and clinical care partners on the unique characteristics of the older population and what they can do to help them have a safe and high quality hospital stay.

After attending a class taught by Darcia Jones, RN, WellStar NICHE coordinator, Wood was inspired to assemble an activity box based on NICHE research. The box contained puzzles, colorful building blocks, dominos and other items aimed at increasing safety and cognitive stimulation for patients with dementia.

“I introduced the initial kit through our Shared Governance Council,” explained Wood. “I researched therapeutic activities for our older patients using resources from NICHE, and funded the kit myself, but I had a limited amount to spend. I drove to multiple stores and used some of my own items. During our daily huddles, I educated staff on using the items with dementia patients. I covered the benefits of the kit, cleaning and safety.”

One patient’s daughter wrote a letter of appreciation about the kit. “She was so thrilled to be able to interact with her mother using the blocks,” said Wood. “She said it was a joy to see her mother using her hands to manipulate the blocks. ‘Please allow other incapacitated individuals the same mental pleasure,’ she wrote. I was determined to do that, by improving the kit and expanding its use throughout Kennestone.”

Wood researched a superior therapeutic kit with a reasonable price that could be ordered hospital-wide from one supplier.

“I am so grateful the WellStar Foundation generously funded new, larger, more durable kits,” said Wood. “They will provide many benefits for our older patients.”

The new kits will be implemented in April.