Setting The Standard In Dementia Care

Main Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Article Date: 02 Sep 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Bradford Dementia Group at the University of Bradford leads the way in developing a standard in Dementia Care.

On 18 August 2008, members of the Bradford Dementia Group and staff from the British Standards Institution (BSI) launched a project to develop a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) in dementia care.

The Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) tool, developed by Bradford Dementia Group and used across the world to evaluate and improve care for people with dementia will form the basis for this new standard. This work will be coordinated by BSI British Standards with members of the Bradford Dementia Group drafting the PAS.

Paul Edwards of Bradford Dementia Group said "This is a significant milestone in the development of DCM and the development of quality in dementia care.

"DCM has been a driver for quality improvement in dementia care for many years and having the PAS will help inform organisations nationally and internationally of how to use the DCM tool to improve care for people with dementia.

"It puts a marker down of what should be expected in terms of quality in using the DCM tool and will help organisations strive to improve practice. Dementia Care is an area of healthcare that deserves higher standards in quality than currently exist. The PAS is the first step in the right direction."

The PAS steering group is headed by Professor Dawn Brooker of Bradford Dementia Group and she is supported by her colleagues Paul Edwards and Dr Claire Surr. The University of Bradford's Knowledge and Business Transfer Unit has also played a key role in supporting this work.

Mr Chris Bell and Ms Bhavisha Patel of BSI British Standards will be co-ordinating the development of the PAS. The work is due to be completed by mid July 2009.

About BSI British Standards

BSI British Standards is the UK's National Standards Body, recognized globally for its independence, integrity and innovation in the production of standards and information products that promote and share best practice. BSI works with businesses, consumers and government to represent UK interests and to make sure that British, European and international standards are useful, relevant and authoritative. For further information please visit http://www.bsigroup.com/britishstandards.

A Publicly Available Specification (PAS) is a sponsored fast-track standard driven by the needs of the client organizations and developed according to guidelines set out by BSI. Key stakeholders are brought together to collaboratively produce a BSI-endorsed PAS that has all the functionality of a British Standard for the purposes of creating management systems, product benchmarks and codes of practice. After two years the PAS is reviewed and a decision is made as to whether it should be taken forward to become a formal British Standard.

About BSI Group

BSI British Standards is part of BSI Group, a global independent business services organization that inspires confidence and delivers assurance to customers with standards-based solutions. Originating as the world's first national standards body, the Group has over 2,300 staff operating in over 120 countries through more than 50 global offices. The Group's key offerings are:

- The development and sale of private, national and international standards and supporting information
- Second and third-party management systems assessment and certification
- Product testing and certification of services and products
- Performance management software solutions
- Training services in support of standards implementation and business best practice.

BSI Group