DECLINE IN QUALITY-OF-LIFE FOR PATIENTS WITH SEVERE DEMENTIA FOLLOWING A WARD MERGER

The effect of a ward merger on the quality of life of patients with severe dementia in a mental hospital was investigated by means of the observational method of dementia care mapping (DCM). Nineteen patients in two long-stay wards were included in the study prior to the merger. Fourteen of these were observed in the merged ward, together with five newly admitted patients. Key DCM indicators showed that the quality of life of patients included in both phases of the study had declined significantly. This may be explained, in part at least, in terms of a 'cycle of demoralization and depersonalization' in the interaction of staff and patients. Further research is required into the dynamics of this cycle.