Teaching hospital using music, puzzles to ease emergency room anxiety of older patients

An academic hospital in San Francisco is looking into new ways to ease the anxiety of elderly patients without the use of benzodiazepines or sedatives.

The pilot program at UCSF Medical Center, part of the University of California, San Francisco, is looking into music therapy as an alternative, complete with noise cancelling headphones and multiple genre options.

The idea came about after a patient with non-life-threatening injuries was left to wait for 11 hours in a hallway. Overwhelmed by the sounds of the hospital, a staffer offered the comfort of headphones and upbeat ‘80s rock to ease the stress of the delay.

The music helped immediately, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. That incident spurred the idea to make this a customary service at the UCSF facility. But, what the facility calls its “age-friendly emergency department” service does not end there.

Focused on the elderly, some of whom suffer from dementia, the hospital is also looking into providing stimulating entertainment, such as puzzles and electronic comfort pets.

These resources, along with the music, are customized to the patient after a nurse practitioner conducts an assessment of the patient’s limitations and needs. The goal is to reduce incidents of delirium associated with being indoors, with the only stimulation coming from the normal noises and passersby in a hospital setting, which can be frightening.

UCSF has been designated a Level 1 geriatric emergency hospital by the American College of Emergency Physicians, an honor it received in 2020.

Part of the initiative has involved staff training. Clinicians are tasked with looking for signs of cognitive impairment, physical disabilities and dementia that could contribute to discomfort, at which point they look to make patients feel as comfortable as possible.

At least one study shows the program is working. Looking into the concept of comprehensive geriatric assessments in emergency departments, including at UCSF, researchers found that comfort interventions reduced the likelihood of an inpatient admission by 11.6%.

For more, read the full report from the San Francisco Chronicle at the link below.