Extrait

Background and study aims 800,000 people in the UK have dementia, of which 250,000 are living in care homes. These people have complex mental health problems, disabilities and social needs, which needs to be met by qualified care staff to improve their quality of life. The government wants to try and improve training of staff working in care homes and reduce the unnecessary use of sedative drugs. We are trying to find out whether a new training programme that we have developed to help staff in care homes benefit the residents within the care homes receiving the training, by improving quality of life and mental health. This training will combine person-centred care, promoting person-centred activities and interactions and provide care home staff and general practitioners with updated knowledge regarding correct use of medications for persons with dementia in care homes. If this training successfully improves life of people with dementia in care homes, it can be rolled out nationally to all UK care homes. Who can participate? Nursing home resident with dementia in participating nursing homes will be invited to participate in the study. What does the study involve? The participating care homes will be randomly allocated to two groups where one group of care homes taking part will receive the training and the other group will continue to provide their usual care for 9 months. The homes that receive the training will have an additional part-time specialist nurse or similar health professional to look at ways of developing specific aspects of care. This will include training for care staff to improve the understanding of dementia, person-centred activities and interactions. This will also include education for care home staff and general practitioners to enable the best review and best use of medication to treat any behavioural or psychiatric symptoms. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? The research will be very valuable in helping us to improve training of care staff and care for people with dementia in the future. There may be benefits for residents in the care homes who receive the extra training. Also sometimes people with dementia may benefit from interactions with researchers. There are limited disadvantages to taking part and no risks. There will be a short assessment for the participant which will include some questions about how they are feeling, their needs and their quality of life. This would be undertaken sensitively and with breaks as appropriate, but can sometimes be tiring or occasionally cause mild distress. No residents will receive any less care than they currently receive. Where is the study run from? The study will be run from 80 care homes across the UK. When is study starting and how long is it expected to run for? The study started in September 2013 and is expected to run until February 2015. Who is funding the study? National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), UK. Who is the main contact? Lindsey Roberts [email protected]

Critère d'inclusion

• Dementia

Liens

• isrctn
• ictrp