Emergency Department Communication in Persons Living With Dementia and Care Partners: A Scoping Review.
Christopher R Carpenter, Jesseca Leggett, Fernanda Bellolio and 16 others
PMID 35940681WHAT IT FOUND
People living with dementia were more likely to misunderstand emergency department diagnosis, medicines, or return warnings, and no emergency department communication strategy was tested.
Nurses should check understanding and involve care partners, but these steps are not proven.
Key findings
01No included study evaluated a communication strategy for people with dementia in the emergency department.
02Emergency department studies linked dementia with poorer understanding of diagnosis, follow-up instructions, or return precautions, and staff described inconsistent messaging.
03Care partners reported limited involvement in hospital care planning, and nurses often acted as intermediaries between families and physicians.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Most evidence was not emergency-department-specific and did not test communication strategies. Reviewer agreement was poor, so the set of included studies may not be stable. Dementia severity and stage were not assessed, so results may not apply to mild or advanced dementia. Some studies excluded nursing home residents, severe dementia, or sensory impairments, and health equity was not a focus. Few people with dementia and care partners took part in priority setting compared with health professionals. The review maps gaps and themes; it cannot show that any communication method works.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The publication types list NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this review as evidence that a specific emergency department communication method works. It found no evaluated emergency department communication strategy for people with dementia, and the few strategy reports came from outside the emergency department.