Increasing the amount of
social interaction for people with dementia living in care homes to just one
hour a week improves quality of life when combined with personalised care.
A large-scale trial led by
the University of Exeter, King's College London and Oxford Health NHS
Foundation Trust found that the approach also saves money.
Previous research has found
that in many care homes, residents have as little as two minutes of social
interaction per day.
The new research, funded by
the National Institute of Health Research and published today in the journal PLOS
Medicine, upskilled key care home staff to deliver person-centred care.
That involves simple measures such as talking to residents about their
interests and involving them in decisions around their own care.
When combined with just one
hour a week of social interaction, the programme improved quality of life and
reduced agitation and aggression in people with dementia.
Professor Clive Ballard, of
the University of Exeter Medical School, who led the research, said:
"While many care homes are excellent, standards still vary hugely. We have
previously found that the average amount of social interaction for people with
dementia was just two minutes a day. It's hardly surprising when that has a
knock-on effect on quality of life and agitation.
"Our approach improves
care and saves money. We must roll out approaches that work to do justice to
some of the most vulnerable people in society. Incredibly, of 170 carer
training manuals available on the market, only four are based on evidence that
they really work. That is simply not good enough - it has to change."
The trial involved more than
800 people with dementia across 69 care homes in South London, North London and
Buckinghamshire. Two 'care staff champions' at each home were trained over four
day-long sessions, to take simple measures that such as involve talking to
residents about their interests and decisions around their own care. Importantly,
the approach also saved money compared to standard care. Researchers say the
next key challenge is to roll the programme to the 28,000 care homes in the UK
to benefit the lives of the 300,000 people with dementia living in these
facilities.
Dr Jane Fossey from the
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Taking a person-centred
approach is about getting to know each resident as an individual - their
interests and preferences - and reflecting these in all aspects of care. It can
improve the lives of the person themselves and it can be rewarding for carers
too. We've shown that this approach significantly reduces agitation and saves
money. Rolling out the training nationwide could benefit many other
people."
The results are the findings
of the Improving Wellbeing and Health for People with Dementia (WHELD) trial,
the largest non-pharmacological randomised control trial in people with
dementia living in care homes to date.
Dr Doug Brown, Director of
Research at Alzheimer's Society, said: "70% of people living in care homes
have dementia, so it is vital that staff have the right training to provide
good quality dementia care.
"A person-centred
approach takes into account each individual's unique qualities, abilities,
interests, preferences and needs. This study shows that training to provide
this type of individualised care, activities and social interactions can have a
significant impact of the well-being of people living with dementia in care
homes. It also shows that this kind of effective care can reduce costs, which
the stretched social care system desperately needs.
"Alzheimer's Society is
committed to improving dementia care through research. That means getting
interventions like this put into practice, and funding further research to
improve the quality of life for people with dementia in their own homes, care
homes and hospitals."
Source: MedicalXpress,
University of Exeter.
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