Cristine Henage is the Assistant Director of Training and Research for the Center for Aging and Health in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at UNC. Over the UNC December Holiday break, she put some old yarn to use by crocheting sleeves for dementia patients. But what’s the purpose of these sleeves?

Dementia patients “often forget where they are and that they are not in their home,” says Maureen Dale, MD, in Modern Health Care. “When clinicians are coming in and out of their room to do their job, it can be alarming.” Busby-Whitehead emphasizes that after the training, many staff members feel more confident speaking with patients and reorienting them.

Maureen Dale, MD, was interviewed on WCHL radio, discussing UNC’s Dementia Friendly Hospitals Initiative and Governor Roy Cooper’s “Dementia Friendly Hospitals Day” proclamation, recognized Thursday, September 26 as the first year of dementia-friendly training at the Hillsborough campus.

The Dementia Friendly Hospital Initiative will reach a total of 3,900 employees in four hospitals across North Carolina to raise awareness of how patients with dementia experience care and to meet their unique needs with strategic and compassionate treatment. Read more