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- PriDem
Project Co-applicants and team: Prof Greta Rait, Prof Kate Walters, Jane Wilcock, Dr Sarah Griffiths, Emily Spencer
Background
Care provided after a dementia diagnosis can be poorly communicated. Almost half of people living with dementia and carers receive insufficient support. The 2016 World Alzheimer Report recommended that post-diagnostic dementia support should be primary care led; this means community-based teams (e.g, GPs, practice nurses, pharmacists, occupational therapists, support workers) coordinating care and support from diagnosis onwards. This should enable more appropriate use of expert resource, maintain a higher quality of care, and better meet the needs of a rapidly ageing population.
Overview of the PriDem study
The PriDem evaluation study (2022-2023) tested a new approach to delivering post-diagnostic support for people with dementia, led by primary care.
If you would like to know more about the PriDem study please email Sarah Griffiths or Emily Spencer (pridem@ucl.ac.uk) or visit the programme website at http://research.ncl.ac.uk/pridem/.
The PriDem Evaluation was led by University College London (UCL) The PriDem programme was funded by Alzheimer’s Society and the Sowerby Foundation and led by Newcastle University.
- Supporting family carers of people with dementia at the end of life: Developing a decision aid
Many people with dementia reach the end of life without a care plan. Earlier in the disease trajectory people with dementia may not be ready or later able to have conversations about end of life, leaving difficult and/or significant decisions to families. Family carers often do not know how to approach conversations, and make decisions about end of life care, with some feeling uncertain or guilty about these decisions.
This study aims to understand which decisions family carers need to make at the end of life for someone with dementia, and develop a decision aid to support family carers when making these decisions at home and in care homes.
This Fellowship is being undertaken by Dr Nathan Davies with funding from the Alzheimer's Society. It is a three year study which commenced in October 2017.
Objectives:
To develop a decision aid for family carers caring for someone with dementia at the end of life at home or in a care home and a training package to implement the decision aid (WS 3)
Work Stream 1: Systematic Review
WS1 is a systematic review to identify decision aids which have been developed dementia care.
Work Stream 2: Interviews with family carers and people with dementia
WS2 will consist of a secondary analysis of existing data, supplemented by semi-structured interviews with up to 15 family carers and up to 15 people with dementia recruited via primary care and memory services. The interviews will increase our understanding of what decisions need to be made by families and how these decisions should be made. They will also help us explore with people with dementia what decisions they think families should make and how they should approach such decisions.
Work Stream 3: Co-design development of a decision aid
Using a co-design approach and synthesising the findings from WS1 and WS2 we will develop a decision aid for family carers. We will develop the decision aid with four groups of participants (10 per group): people with dementia, family carers, practitioners and professionals representing carer organisations.
Work Stream 4: Feasibility trial
The decision aid will be tested in 2019 with in a 6 month feasibility trial with family carers of someone with dementia at or home or in a care home. This will test the acceptability and feasibility of the tool to inform a larger trial.
For more information please contact Nathan Davies
- CADRE: Exploring the use of the internet as a support tool for older family carers of people with dementia
ABSTRACT
Background: More people are living for longer which has resulted in an increase in the numbers of people living with dementia, making it a global health problem. With no known cure for dementia's progressive course, end of life care is a major priority for people with dementia and their families. Most care for people with dementia is provided at home by family or friends. We know that providing this care can cause psychological distress, more so than in other caring roles. Few carers make use of sources of support outside the home due to the difficulty of leaving their relative or finding suitable stand-in care, with an estimated 10% of carers accessing such sources of support. There is some evidence that internet-based interventions have the potential to improve carer well-being and could address this problem. There is little evidence on how we can better design and format internet-based interventions to make them accessible for this carer group, particularly at the end of life and for older carers (65 years +).
Aim:
To develop and test the feasibility of an internet-based intervention to support family carers in caring for their relative with dementia at the end of life at home.Methods:
A co-design approach following the MRC framework for the development of a complex intervention will include:
1) A scoping review of the available evidence on digital/internet-based interventions for family carers
2) Qualitative interviews with older family carers (65 years +) using purposive sampling to determine the optimal format, focus, content and design of the intervention
3) Refinement of the format, content and functionality of the intervention using the expertise of family carers, practitioners and topic experts.
4) User testing with family carers (the target population) to assess the acceptability and content of the refined intervention.Impact: This project created a prototype website for further large scale testing with those caring for an individual with dementia at the end of life.
For further information please contact Dr Nathan Davies
- CaMDeMPrinciple Investigator: Iva Holmerova, Charles University Prague
UCL Chief investigators: Jane Wilcock, Steve Iliffe
Start date: June 2015
Finish date: June 2019
Main aim or mission of the project:
To explore the evidnce and make recommendations on case management as a complex intervention in dementia, its impact on resource utilisation and the quality of life of patients and caregivers.
BackgroundCase management is generally seen as a way to provide efficient, cost-saving person-centred care for people with dementia by connecting together fragmented services, but the available evidence in favour of its merits is often considered inconclusive, unclear and sketchy. This discussion paper investigates the evidence of the benefit of case management for people with dementia and explores the complexity of the concept and the experiences of its implementation. It offers a comprehensive framework for conceptualising various types of case management and asks the question: who can be a case manager? Building on examples from three European countries it addresses the problem of the expansion and adoption of the case management method. It compares the conventional model of diffusion of innovation with the ideas of interessement and co-constitution and envisions a successful model of case management as a fluid technologythat is both friendly and flexible, allowing it to adapt to different settings and systems.
Study Methods:
Scoping review and ethnographic observations. Production of toolkit.
Project co-applicants and collaborators:
Iva Holmerová, Dana Hradcová, Michael Synek, and Radek Carboch, Charles University Prague
Funded by:
Agency for Healthcare Research Czech Republic
Contact details: Jane Wilcock
Project links and documents:
Iliffe, S., Wilcock, J., Synek, M., Carboch, R., Hradcová, D., & Holmerová, I. (2019). Case Management for People with Dementia and its Translations: A Discussion Paper. Dementia, 18(3), 951–969. https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301217697802
Monograph
Holmerová I, Iliffe S, Wilcock J (with others) Case management v péči o lidi žijící s demencí: Koordinace péče zaměřená na člověka. Nakladatel: Univerzita Karlova v Praze 2019.
- EMBED-Care
The Empowering Better End of Life Dementia Care (EMBED-Care) Programme
Chief Investogator: Prof Liz Sampson (Dr Nathan Davies (PCPH Lead))Start date: January 2019
Finish date: (if applicable) December 2023Main aim or mission of the project:
Our goal is to deliver timely person-centred care, improving outcomes, including comfort and QoL, towards end of life. We will develop new knowledge and pilot an innovative intervention to empower people with dementia of all ages, carers and staff, to identify and act upon changing physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs, addressing these across care settings and transitions. We will leverage sustained improvement in care by working with the public, commissioners and policy makers and by creating a network for care, engagement and research capacity.
Background
One third of people aged over 65 will die with dementia, the commonest cause of death in the UK. People with dementia and their families may struggle to express their needs and concerns, leaving problems underdetected and undertreated over the last months and years of life. Death is unpredictable, and uncertainty is inherent, with inequity of access to good palliative care. A palliative care approach is often started in crisis or when dying is imminent; but should be integrated earlier into routine practice by generalist staff and be “everybody’s business. To meet growing need, we must develop new models of palliative care, delivered by generalist staff via mainstream services, where people with dementia reside (home, care home) and receive care (hospital, at home or in care homes). The EMBED-Care Programme will deliver a model of integrated palliative dementia care, enhancing communication and person-centred decision-making to improve comfort and quality of life.Study Methods:
This study consists of six workstreams (WS): WS1) synthesis of health and social care policy and evidence; WS2) Retrospective observational study using the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Biomedical Research Centre (SLaM BRC) Case Register and its Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS); WS3) Prospective longitudinal mixed method cohort study; WS4) Knowledge synthesis; WS5) Co-design intervention development; WS6) Feasibility and pilot trials.Study results:
Project co-applicants and collaborators:
Dr Kirsten Moore
Dr Nathan Davies
Dr Nuriye Kupeli
Dr Bridget Candy
Dr Anna Gola
Professor Simon Mead
Professor Rumana Omar
Professor Jason Warren
Jane Ward
Dr Catherine Evans
Dr Katherine Eleanor Sleeman
Dr Clare Ellis-Smith
Professor Richard Harding
Dr Janet Anderson
Professor Robert StewartFunded by:
NIHR ESRC Dementia Research InitativeContact details:
Dr Charlotte Kenten - c.kenten@ucl.ac.uk
- COGNISANCEPrinciple Investigator: Henry Brodaty, Centre for healthy Brain Ageing, University of New South Wales
Chief investigators: Greta Rait, Jane Wilcock UCL
Start date: 01/07/19Finish date: 30/06/22
Main aim or mission of the project:COGNISANCE aims to improve the dementia diagnostic process and post-diagnostic support. Our objectives are to co-design and deliver in partnership with people with dementia, family care partners and health care professionals, print or on-line toolkits. Toolkits will provide structured information, tailored to enable health care practitioners to effectively enact national dementia guidelines around diagnostic and post-diagnostic support, and to empower people with dementia and their family care partners seek the support they require. Toolkits will be delivered using a targeted social marketing campaign in selected regions across Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Poland.
BackgroundThere are many national guidelines across the globe which establish benchmarks for best practice diagnosis and support of people living with dementia. Despite this, people with dementia and their family care partners are often dissatisfied with the process of getting a diagnosis and may also receive limited, if any, post-diagnostic support. Diagnosis itself may be difficult to obtain, with estimates of undiagnosed dementia ranging from 43.3% in the UK to 70.7% in Canada. Even if a diagnosis is obtained, some medical practitioners worry about distressing their patients and avoid discussing prognosis. This situation is exacerbated by limited availability or knowledge about post-diagnostic support that may assist people with dementia and their families cope, compensate or even improve symptoms and issues that arise in dementia.
Study Methods:
e will explore, through surveys and focus groups the experience of diagnosis and post diagnostic support from the perspective of people with dementia, family care partners and health care professionals. From this baseline, we will develop internationally adaptable toolkits supporting guideline implementation. We will deliver the toolkits though targeted social marketing campaigns to promote behavioural change to improve health care practitioner’s diagnostic habits and provision of support, as well as increase help seeking by people with dementia and care partners. Success of the campaign will be evaluated using the RE-AIM framework. From our experience, we will produce a ‘playbook’ outlining how to deliver similar campaigns in other countries.
Project co-applicants and collaborators:
Scientia Professor Henry Brodaty, Project Leader, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), UNSW Sydney Associate Professor Lee-Fay Low, University of Sydney, Australia Professor Isabelle Vedel, McGill University, Canada Professor Frans Verhey, Maastricht University, Netherlands Professor Dame Louise Robinson, Newcastle University, UK Professor Joanna Rymaszewska, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland Dr Meredith Gresham, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), UNSW SydneyFunded by: JPND “Multinational research projects on health and social care for neurodegenerative diseases” (Alzheimer’s Socety UK)
Contact details: Jane Wilcock
Project links and documents:
Collaborators
Dr Lyn Phillipson, University of Wollongong, Australia Kate Swaffer, Dementia Alliance International Paola Barbarino, Alzheimers Disease International Tarun Dua, World Health Organisation- Nutri-Dem:H
Developing a shared decision aid regarding NUTRItion and hydration for people with severe DEMentia in acute Hospitals (Nutri-Dem:H)
PhD Student: Kanthee Anantapong
Supervisors: Liz Sampson (Principle Investigator), Nathan Davies
Start date: 1 October 2018
Finish date: 29 September 2021
Main aim or mission of the project:This study aims to understand how family carers and practitioners make decisions about nutrition and hydration for someone with severe dementia, and to develop a decision aid to support family carers and practitioners when making the decisions in acute hospitals.
Background:Decisions regarding nutrition and hydration for people with severe dementia are often difficult and distressing for family carers and practitioners. In acute hospitals, the decisions are more complicated with the uncertainty of prognosis and treatments of an acute illness. Decisional support like a decision aid can be helpful for them to make the decisions.
Study Methods:
The study consists of three work streams (WS). WS1 is a systematic review of the decision-making process of nutrition and hydration for people with dementia. WS2 will involve semi-structured interviews with family carers and practitioners of people with severe dementia. The interviews will explore their decisions about nutrition and hydration, specifically in acute hospital settings. WS3 will develop a shared decision aid for family carers and practitioners concerning nutrition and hydration for people with severe dementia in acute hospitals. The decision aid will be designed by using a co-design process with groups of family carers, practitioners, and PPI members.
Study results:
Protocol of the systematic review (WS1) has been published on PROSPERO (ID CRD42019131497). Data analysis of WS1 is nearly finished. WS2 and 3 will be commenced in February and June 2020, respectively.
Project co-applicants and collaborators: Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department
Funded by: Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand
Contact details: kanthee.anantapong.18@ucl.ac.uk
Project links and documents:
Systematic review protocol (PROSPERO ID: CRD42019131497) (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=131497).
- ENDEMIC: dEmeNtia and DEcision MakIng during Covid19
We have produced an evidence-based decision aid booklet to support family carers and people with dementia to make these difficult decisions during COVID-19. Click here to download the decision aid.
Project Summary
Background: During the current pandemic, if a person living with dementia becomes unwell, the family and the person living with dementia may have to make rapid decisions. Decisions may concern hospital admission or whether to receive care at home, social distancing, and which treatments the person may or may not wish to receive. This can include very difficult decisions such as whether the person wishes to be resuscitated or have other potentially traumatic treatments. These decisions will have an impact on the emotional wellbeing of both the family and person with dementia.
Methods: This project will consist of three phases: 1) We will identify key factors influencing the choice of place of death in older people, conducting a rapid review of the evidence; 2) We will review and analyse common challenges and decisions family carers of people with dementia are making in relation to COVID-19, from the Alzheimer's Society online community forum. We will also explore concerns of people living with dementia during COVID-19 reported on the forum and; 3) Together with people living with dementia, family carers and health care professionals, we will develop a decision tool for family carers and people with dementia to use when making difficult decisions.
Dissemination and Impact: The tool will provide carers with a clear framework to help them to make decisions and ease feelings of guilt, burden, stress, strain and anxiety. We will work closely with Marie Curie Charity, Alzheimer's Society and British Geriatrics Society to disseminate the tool and our findings to the people who may benefit from using them.
Principal Investigators
Dr Nathan Davies and Dr Nuriye Kupeli
Dates: May - August 2020
Funding: ESRC
Research Team
Co-Investigators
Prof Liz Sampson Dr Kirsten Moore Dr Emily West Pushpa NairPartners: Marie Curie and Alzheimer's Society
Collaborators
- Nutrition, hydration and care for people with dementia at the end of life: How can we best support family carers? (Nutri-Dem)
Principle Investigator: Dr Nathan Davies
Start date: February 2019
Finish date: (if applicable) July 2020Main aim or mission of the project:
The aims of this study are to explore carers’ understanding of how best to manage eating and drinking at the end-of-life for someone with dementia; establishing if there are gaps in their knowledge and also identifying what information practitioners provide to carers. We will set the scene for developing a carer resource if this appears desirable.
Background
Difficulties with nutrition and food intake are common among people with dementia. There may be changes in perceptions of food including altered taste and smell of food, which may make them undesirable to the individual. As someone with dementia approaches the end-of-life, their symptoms become progressively worse and hard to manage for carers, and may become distressing. One of the most common and distressing symptoms for carers is difficulty eating and drinking due to swallowing problems. Carers remain uncertain about how to best cope with these challenges.Study Methods:
This study consists of three phases: Phase 1) identify existing information resources for carers and existing guidelines for practitioners; Phase 2) semi-structured interviews with family carers, people with mild dementia and practitioners; Phase 3) a co-design process with people with dementia, practitioners and carers consider the findings of Phase 2 to develop a resource to support family carers at home.Study results:
Project co-applicants and collaborators:
Prof Greta Rait
Prof Liz Sampson
Dr Christina Smith
Prof Jill Manthorpe
Dr Kirsten Moore
Dr Yolanda Barrado-Martin
Dr Pushpa Nair
Dr Lee HatterFunded by:
Marie CurieContact details:
Dr Yolanda Barrado-Martin y.barrado@ucl.ac.ukProject links and documents:
- Improving care in acute hospitals: development and feasibility study of rules- of -thumb to promote comfort and decrease distress (DeCoDe-H)
Chief Investogator: Dr Nathan Davies and Prof Liz Sampson
Start date: October 2018
Finish date: (if applicable) July 2020Main aim or mission of the project:
To develop and test the feasibility of a simple, acceptable, and practical intervention to support acute hospital staff and family carers in identifying discomfort and distress, maximising comfort (and thus wellbeing) and reducing behaviours that challenge or are distressing to people with dementia who are in an acute hospital for assessment, treatment, or care, and may not be able to communicate their needs.
Background
Up to 42% of acute hospital inpatients have dementia. Being unable to communicate their discomfort and needs may lead to distress and agitation. Maintaining comfort is a neglected aspect of care. Heuristics (“rules-ofthumb”) provide a simple intervention to maximise comfort and reduce distress and pain.Study Methods:
This study consists of three workstreams (WS): WS1) Observational study in medical wards from three diverse acute hospitals to understand causes, impact and management of discomfort; WS2) co-design development of rules of thumb; WS3) Feasibility study.Study results:
Project co-applicants and collaborators:
Prof Greta Rait
Prof Jill Manthorpe
Dr Vicki Vickerstaff
Dr Anna Gola
Jane Wilcock
Jane WardFunded by:
NIHR RfPBContact details:
Dr Emily West – emily.west@ucl.ac.uk- After the Liverpool Care Pathway Study – Rules of thumb for end of life care for people with dementia (ALCP)
Chief Investogator: Dr Nathan Davies
Start date: October 2014
Finish date: (if applicable) July 2017Main aim or mission of the project:
The aim of this study was to develop and test the usability and acceptability of a set of heuristics (rules of thumb) which could be used by practitioners providing end of life care for people with dementia in a variety of clinical and care settings.
Background
End of life care for people with dementia can present a multitude of challenges and difficult decisions for practitioners. These challenges may include assessment and management of difficulties with eating and swallowing, responding to agitation, treating pain, and managing recurrent infections. Practitioners sometimes lack both confidence in making end of life decisions and guidance. This study developed an alternative to lengthy guidelines, in the form of rules of thumb which were tested in clinical settingsStudy Methods:
This study was split into three phases: Phase 1: conducted focus groups with families and practitioners to develop an understanding of the difficulties and challenges practitioners face when caring for someone with dementia at the end of life; Phase 2) used co-design methods with family carers, professionals and leading experts to develop a novel, simple and applied set of rules of thumb; Finally Phase 3) Tested the feasibility of the developed heuristics in real settings including general practice, hospitals, palliative care community teams, and community nursing teams. The rules of thumb were evaluated by conducting semi-structured interviews with users.Study results:
Four heuristics were developed covering: eating and swallowing difficulties, agitation and restlessness, reviewing treatment and interventions at the end of life, and providing routine care. The five sites reported that the heuristics were simple and easy to use, comprehensive, and made implicit, tacit knowledge explicit. Four themes emerged from the qualitative evaluation: authority and permission; synthesis of best practice; providing a structure and breaking down complexity; and reassurance and instilling confidence. The heuristics can be downloaded hereProject co-applicants and collaborators:
Prof Steve Iliffe
Prof Jill Manthorpe
Prof Liz Sampson
Funded by:
Alzheimer’s Society and Marie CurieContact details:
Dr Nathan Davies – n.m.davies@ucl.ac.ukProject links and documents:
1) Davies N, Manthorpe J, Sampson E L, Lamahewa K, Wilcock J, Mathew R, Iliffe S. (2018). Guiding practitioners through end of life care for people with dementia: The use of Heuristics. Plos One. 13(11): e0206422
2) Lamahewa, K., Mathew, R., Wilcock, J., Iliffe, S., Manthorpe, J., Sampson, E.L., & Davies, N. (2018). A qualitative study exploring the difficulties influencing decision-making at the end-of-life for people with dementia. Health Expectations, 21(1), 118-127
3) Davies, N., Mathew, R., Wilcock, J., Manthorpe, J., Sampson, E.L., Lamahewa, K., Iliffe, S. (2016). A co-design process developing heuristics for practitioners providing end-of-life-care for people with dementia. BMC Palliative Care, 15(68).
4) Mathew, R., Davies, N., Manthorpe, J., Iliffe, S. (2016). Making decisions at the end of life when caring for a person with dementia: A literature review to explore the potential use of heuristics in difficult decision-making. BMJ Open, 6: e010416
- The role of clinical pharmacists in providing care for people living with dementia in primary care (DCPharm)
This information is for the qualitative part of the ‘DCPharm’ study that focuses on speaking to people living with dementia and carers of dementia.
Overview of the study
The study focuses on people’s experiences of living with dementia (i.e., diagnosed with dementia) and carers of dementia. We want to find out more about people’s experiences of working with a pharmacist that they have accessed through their doctors’ surgery. These pharmacists are known as ‘clinical pharmacists’ and they have a different role to a pharmacist in a local chemist/pharmacy. We want to find out how clinical pharmacists have helped support people living with dementia and their carers.
What is a clinical pharmacist?
A clinical pharmacist is a pharmacist who you can access through your doctors’ surgery, usually following a referral from your doctor. They have a different role to pharmacists that work in a local chemist/pharmacy. Clinical pharmacists are known as medication specialists and can review the medication you are taking, check if you are taking more medication than needed, and in some cases, stop some medications or prescribe new drugs. A clinical pharmacist can answer questions about medication and also signpost to other support which may be community-based. They may also ask your doctor to refer you to another specialist.
Funding and timeline
The research costs for the qualitative study are funded by the NIHR School for Primary Care Research (SPCR). Recruitment to the study began in July 2022 and is expected to be completed by 31st December 2023. This study has been approved by the UCL REC 3344/006.
Get involved in our study
We are now looking for people to take part in our study! We are looking to speak to people living with dementia and carers of dementia, who have seen a pharmacist at their doctors’ surgery (or another primary care setting such as a care home), to take part in an interview.
Interviews will last up to 60 minutes and can be done online (e.g. MS Teams/Zoom), over the phone, or in-person. There is a £20 voucher for people taking part in an interview.
Who can take part?
Please have a look at the recruitment flyers below that provide more information about who can take part in the study:
If you are a person living with dementia, please click here for the flyer.
If you identify as being a carer for someone with dementia, either a family member or close friend (current or past experience), please click here for the flyer.
If you would like to know more about the study or are interested in taking part, please contact Alice Burnand by email a.burnand@ucl.ac.uk or telephone on 07469 273849.
- CAPPD: Communication Aspects of Personalised care Planning in Dementia
Chief Investigator: Sarah Griffiths s.a.griffiths@ucl.ac.uk
Start date: 02/01/2024
Finish date: 31/12/2026
Main aim of the project
This project aims to develop an evidence-based training and guidance toolkit, of communication strategies for facilitating personalised dementia care planning conversations. This will support allied primary care workforce (e.g., social prescribers, dementia advisors, care coordinator, health and wellbeing coaches) to work alongside GPs to deliver personalised, holistic care planning.
Background
Everyone living with dementia should have a personalised care plan (NHS England, 2017). The plan needs to say what health and social care support should be put in place and how it will be put in place. ‘Personalised’ means that the plan is made with the person with dementia, based on what matters most to them. In primary care (healthcare provided in the community), GPs should create care plans with people living with dementia in ‘Annual Dementia Reviews,’ but we know these rarely happen. When reviews do happen, they are often not ‘personalised,’ and may not even involve the person living with dementia themselves.
NHS England recommends that Annual Dementia Reviews should no longer be carried out just by GPs. This should be shared amongst the wider team in primary care. This could include staff such as Social Prescribers, Dementia Advisors, Care Co-ordinators and Health and Wellbeing Coaches. These ‘allied’ primary care staff offer social and community-based support, allowing people to maintain strengths and explore new opportunities for life activities. This work still usually happens separately to the Annual Dementia Review, despite calls for more task sharing. There is a great opportunity for these two types of care planning to be more joined up. This would lead to better conversations about the relationship between people’s health and social needs and how staff can work together to address those needs.
However, there are two important communication challenges to overcome for this joined-up approach to work:
Many primary care teams are unsure about how best to work with each other, the person living with dementia and carer, to jointly develop a care plan and share patient records with each other. Allied primary care staff lack confidence in having personalised care planning conversations with people living with dementia and often ‘just speak with the carer.’ Conversations about life activities are not always culturally aware or fitted to their interests. The conversations can feel like a ‘rigid tick-box’ ‘one size fits all’ approach.
There is a lack of training to support the allied primary care workforce in finding out what really matters to people, how to create culturally appropriate care plans and how to balance the needs of people living with dementia and carers.
Study Methods
This three-year project will take place in London and Devon, and has six overlapping workstreams:
Workstream 1 (Months 0-6) – Reviewing published evidence about the challenges of delivering personalised dementia care and support. This will help identify possible elements of good practice. It will also help to inform later workstreams.
Workstream 2 (Months 7-22) – Interview study: Up to 50 interviews with people living dementia, carers, Social Prescribers, Dementia Advisors, Care Co-ordinators, Health and Wellbeing Coaches, GPs and practice nurses to find out about their experiences of personalised care planning conversations.
Workstream 3 (Months 7-22) – Observation study: Up to 20 video recordings of real personalised care planning conversations between people with dementia and allied primary care staff across both sites. Conversation Analysis will be used. This work will help us understand what verbal and non-verbal communication behaviours work well/less well, for finding out what matters to people living with dementia and carers.
Workstream 4 (Months 23-30)– Developing the toolkit. In workshops people with dementia, carers and practitioners will use knowledge from workstreams 1,2 and 3 to design the training toolkit together.
Workstream 5 (Months 31-32) - Testing out the resources. Six allied primary care staff will try out the toolkit in real-life practice. They will provide feedback on how easy to use and helpful the resources were. Based on this feedback, final changes will be made to the training toolkit.
Workstream 6 (Months 0-36) Ongoing Dissemination about the project and the findings throughout the whole 3 years
Project co-applicants and collaborators
Funded by
Alzheimer’s Society (Grant reference number 597: awarded 31/03/2023).