Reframing dementia care in Maltese Hospitals

Abstract

This commentary addresses the urgent need to improve the care of patients with dementia and cognitive impairment in Maltese hospitals by proposing a number of dementia-friendly hospital-based initiatives. The authors discuss the rationale for developing these interventions in view of the increase in prevalence of persons with dementia in the Maltese Islands, some of whom may require hospital care at any time. Lessons learned from initiatives abroad are reviewed and an overview of the key objectives set out in the National Strategy for Dementia in the Maltese Islands is given. Finally, this article proposes a number of dementia-friendly initiatives that can be introduced in Maltese hospitals so as to induce the required change.