How to make a visit to the hospital more Age and Dementia Friendly

At Leeds Teaching Hospitals, we are looking at how we can become more Age and Dementia-friendly, not just in our services, but in the physical environment of our hospitals. Our hospital is one of the largest and busiest hospitals in the UK with seven hospital sites. This can make it a challenging and daunting place for patients and visitors, and so it is vital the site has excellent wayfinding to ensure that people can get to where they need to go.

People who visit our hospital often need to navigate multiple wings, floors and departments usually over a distance. A significant demographic of the population using our services is older people. One in three people in Leeds are aged over 50 and the fastest growing age group in the city is the 80 years and over age group. So, it is important to listen and involve older people in improvements to receive candid, valuable insights based on diverse, practical lived experiences.

In Leeds, our ambition is to be the best city for people to grow old in, an Age-friendly Community where people of all ages are valued, respected and appreciated.

Being part of  the Age-friendly Leeds Network we knew about the Age Friendly Steering Group (part of the Leeds Older People’s Forum) and their previous experience in helping improve places like Leeds railway station. We were also sharing our Age and Dementia Friendly work and asking for support, so it was a natural progression for us to invite them to do a visit.

After a planning meeting,13 members of the group attended St James’s University Hospital earlier this year. The group took on a ‘Secret Shopper’ approach and used an adapted checklist from the free Age and Dementia Friendly Business Scheme. 

The group split up into pairs and went on separate missions to find different departments in five wings. They focused on wayfinding, accessibility and checking amenities by considering a variety of factors including seating, directions and toilets.

The initial debrief feedback identified some positives, Robert, 91 who walks with a mobility aid told us, “There are seats on the wall along the way, which is good,” but he also said, “but there aren’t any at the top of the ramp from Gledhow Wing. That would be where I’d want a rest after climbing that ramp”. We often assume we have got things right but as David 78 observed “The signage was very good on the way to Chancellor Wing, but there aren’t any signs for Gledhow Wing going back.”

There will be quick changes that are quite simple and low cost to make while others might take longer to incorporate. The process has given us more confidence that future improvements will make a difference. It has emphasised to us that if you want to be Age and Dementia Friendly, you must involve older people who use your services. 

Our advice to others would be, if you are thinking of working with residents to make improvements to your hospital, organisation or business, don’t be put off or worried about what feedback you might receive. It is also advisable to find out who and what is going on in your city that can help you. You can also find out about similar groups if you want to get involved yourself in helping make your city more inclusive and better to live in. 

We are grateful for Leeds’s Age-friendly Steering Group’s insightful input and we look forward to receiving the members’ full report of recommendations and planning more missions in the near future.