Improved care at KTPH geriatric wards with restraint-free approach

A move by Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) to improve the quality of care for elderly patients has hit a milestone, with all five of its geriatric wards marking one full year without using physical restraints in August.

- Zhaki Abdullah Correspondent

Senior occupational therapist Giang Thuy Anh (left) and senior staff nurse Siti Nur Aisyah Ibrahim with a patient at Yishun Community Hospital. All five of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

(ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY)

These include body vests, as well as arm and leg restraints, which are used to prevent patients from harming themselves or others, stop them from removing medical devices such as catheters, and to protect them from falls.

The move to go restraint-free has shown results, with patients showing greater physical mobility and an 82 per cent reduction in refusal of care, said KTPH, a hospital under the NHG Health public healthcare cluster.

"Patients also demonstrated higher levels of interaction and decreased agitation," the hospital said in a statement on Dec 9.

Hospital staff, meanwhile, showed greater empathy for patients and a 20 per cent decrease in self-reported burnout, it added.

KTPH first began avoiding the use of restraints with the establishment of its Care for the Acute Mentally Infirm Elder ward for patients with dementia in 2012. Extending this approach to all of its geriatric wards, which have about 160 beds, marks a significant expansion of this initiative.