Dr. Sudip Saha
Medical Director of Seniors’ Health and Division Head of Geriatric Medicine,
William Osler Health System
William Osler Health System set out to transform how
patients with this chronic and progressive illness receive care in hospital.
With more than one million people in Canada expected to live with dementia by 2030, William Osler Health System (Osler) – a hospital system in the Greater Toronto Area that serves a region of over 1.3 million people in one of the fastest-growing and most culturally-diverse regions of Ontario – set out to transform how patients with this chronic and progressive illness receive care within an acute hospital setting.
“Dementia is one of the biggest health care challenges of our time,” said Dr. Sudip Saha, Medical Director of Seniors’ Health and Division Head of Geriatric Medicine at William Osler Health System. “Since there is no cure or treatment to slow the disease, we must think of other ways to support patients. Methods like The Butterfly ApproachTM help us continue to provide the best possible people-centred care.”
Dementia is one of the biggest health care challenges of our time.
Connecting with patients through their emotions
With dementia affecting an individual’s “logical brain” before affecting the “feeling brain”, The Butterfly ApproachTM, implemented at Osler’s Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE) unit, focuses on connecting with patients through their emotions. Osler carefully selects staff not only on their qualifications and experience, but also on their emotional intelligence. Team members receive extensive training in emotion-based, person-centred care ensuring that every interaction is an opportunity to provide meaningful support and honour who the patient was before the dementia.
When patients are admitted to the unit, they are assessed for both their medical and personal history, allowing the care team to better understand who they were before their diagnosis. Recognizing and anticipating what a person needs helps prevent emotional distress, which can reduce challenging behaviours, as well as the use of medication.
Transforming the way we think about health care
While the relationship between the patient and their health care team is the foundation of The Butterfly ApproachTM, an equally important and special aspect is the transformation of the space or unit. Stepping onto the ACE unit, the environment is vastly different from a typical hospital unit. The beige and neutral coloured hospital walls have been replaced by vibrant colours. Large vinyl wall decals convey the experiences of everyday life and provide orientation, wayfinding and stimulation to patients living with dementia.
“Dementia can affect a person’s ability to judge spatial relationships between objects or to see subtle colour differences – this can lead to expressive behaviours,” said Dr. Saha, “Bright colours and wall decals help patients navigate through the unit, creating a setting that is more appropriate, accessible and enjoyable for people living with dementia. Every patient deserves exceptional care, so we strive to design health care that is the best in the world, in a welcoming environment that personifies the human experience.”
Creating a world-class health experience
The Butterfly ApproachTM has been a game-changer — not just for patients and their families, but also for the incredible staff and physicians who care for them every day. Since 2023, Osler’s ACE unit has seen steady improvements including a higher patient and family satisfaction, fewer patient falls, reduced dementia-associated behaviours, and slower functional decline. Osler’s commitment to compassionate, person-centred care has also led to greater staff and physician satisfaction, meaning patients get the best care possible.
Developed by United Kingdom-based consultancy Meaningful Care Matters (MCM), The Butterfly ApproachTM is an emotion-based, person-centred model of care for patients living with dementia, which recognizes that a patient’s emotional needs are just as important as their physical needs. In 2023, the Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE) Unit at Osler’s Brampton Civic Hospital became the first acute care health hospital system in the world to be accredited to implement The Butterfly ApproachTM. Osler’s ACE unit was re-evaluated one year post launch and achieved the highest level of re-accreditation status (Level I) for excellence in care. The program has been sharing its expertise and learnings within the health care sector to help accelerate a necessary paradigm shift in dementia care, not just in Canada, but around the world.
The implementation of The Butterfly ApproachTM has been truly transformative, not only for the patients and their families, but also for the staff and physicians who care for them. Since 2023, Osler’s ACE unit has seen steady improvements including a higher patient and family satisfaction, fewer patient falls, reduced dementia-associated behaviours, and slower functional decline. Osler’s commitment to compassionate, person-centred care has also led to greater staff and physician satisfaction, meaning patients get the best care possible.
Learn more at williamoslerhs.ca
