SIGN guideline for the management of patients with dementia

✍ Scribed by Peter J. Connelly; Roberta James

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 45 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/gps.1491

✦ Synopsis

The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) was established in 1993 by the Academy of Royal Colleges and their Faculties in Scotland, to develop evidence-based clinical guidelines for the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland. Clinical guidelines are designed to help practitioners assimilate, evaluate and implement the ever-increasing amount of evidence and opinion on current best practice. They are intended as neither cookbook nor textbook but, where there is evidence of variation in practice which affects patient outcomes and a strong research base providing evidence of effective practice, guidelines can assist doctors and other health care professionals in making decisions about appropriate and effective care for their patients. The presence of a guideline does constitute a useful benchmark against which the results of newly published research can be questioned.

The accepted criteria for validity of guidelines have evolved from the 'essential elements of good guidelines' identified by the US Institute of Medicine . These recommended 'attributes of good guidelines' included validity, reliability, clinical applicability, clinical flexibility, clarity, multidisciplinary process, scheduled review, and documentation. The recommendations were underpinned by