Authors (including presenting author) :
Lui PY, Law ST, Ng YY, Tam KN, Poon WK, Yue SY, Lau M
Affiliation :
Occupational Therapy Department, Shatin Hospital
Introduction :
Patients with cognitive decline are likely to experience gradual loss of ability in geographical orientation and place recognition. In fact, up to 40% of community-dwelling elderly in Hong Kong have reported history of getting lost (Kwok et al., 2010). While the risk of getting lost is often underestimated, carers for persons with cognitive decline are persistently in fear of missing or losing their loved ones, without adequate awareness and understanding of the risk of getting lost.
Occupational Therapists take up the prime role in screening and preventing risk upon the home-returning of persons with cognitive decline. In order to enhance therapists’ knowledge and competence about the risks of getting lost, the Getting Lost Precaution Package was developed with a Decision Flowchart for Recommended Methods and an Aids and Service Resources List. It also includes a Carer Educational Pamphlet for distribution, with the hope of eventually enhancing the quality of carer education.
Objectives :
To evaluate the effectiveness of the Getting Lost Precaution Package in enhancing therapists’ knowledge and competence and the quality of carer education related to getting lost precautions.
Methodology :
The pilot program of the Getting Lost Precaution Package was carried out from April 2021 to March 2023. Fifteen Occupational Therapists from Shatin Hospital were invited to complete a questionnaire, where both quantitative and qualitative data about the usage and feedback on the Package were collected.
Result & Outcome :
The Getting Lost Precaution Package is promising in enhancing therapists' competence and the quality of carer education. Up to 80% of respondents agreed that it plays a very effective role in guiding the screening of risk and prescription of suitable aids and service. Most encouragingly, 100% of respondents highly rated the Carer Educational Pamphlet's effectiveness in raising awareness and understanding about getting lost precautions, thereby improving the quality of carer education. In future, in-service training is recommended for promoting service standardization. Working closely with community service providers can ensure that service is up-to-date. The programme can also retrieve more convincing data if it’s based in an out-patient unit or day hospital for long-term tracing of user experience.
