People with dementia who fracture their hips are a vulnerable group.

Care for hip fractures in dementia explored at World Alzheimer’s Day event

A new approach to treating people with dementia who endure hip fractures will be laid out at a special symposium on World Alzheimer’s Day.

The online event on September 21 will feature the outputs of the PERFECTED project. Funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), PERFECTED investigated how better standards of care could be implemented across the NHS. People with dementia who fracture their hips are a vulnerable group, yet care standards have so far varied across the NHS.

The findings will feature part of a conference hosted by Professor Chris Fox, of the University of Exeter, and colleagues which considers the challenges and constraints of dementia care within the demands of the acute setting. The event will also showcase new directions in current dementia research and draws together an impressive range of speakers with structured sessions to enable wide debate and discussion.

The symposium will feature a range of research, and speakers include Professor Ruth Endacott, NIHR Director of Nursing & Midwifery, Louise Allan, Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Exeter, Dr Jane Cross Senior Lecturer in physiotherapy University of East Anglia and Alasdair MacLullich, Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. 

Professor Chris Fox, of the University of Exeter, said: “I’m excited to bring together a wide range of researchers to discuss the challenges and opportunities to deliver high-quality care to a particularly vulnerable group of people. I’d encourage anyone working in dementia care to sign up and take part in the debate.”

As part of the symposium, prize-winning poet Rebecca Goss has been commissioned to write a poem. She said: “'I’m thrilled to have been asked to write a poem responding to data collected as part of the PERFECTED project. Having spent time in hospitals myself as a carer I recognise aspects of these hospital spaces; settings that house a constant cycle of labour, knowledge and compassion. As a poet, I hope to offer an alternative way of seeing and exploring different roles and experiences that exist in Enhanced Recovery hip Fracture Care of patients with Dementia. I believe there are powerful connections between poetry and the medical arena and feel privileged to play a small part in this important project.”

To find out more, visit https://hopin.com/events/perfected-symposia.

Date: 17 September 2021