Approaches to dementia care in Ireland, North and South (version 1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Approaches to dementia care in Ireland, North and South
IRAS ID
171323
Contact name
Una Lynch
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
National University of Ireland, Galway
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 29 days
Research summary
One of the great difficulties that carers (paid and unpaid) currently face is not knowing the ‘right thing to say’ when the person with dementia says something that is false. For example person with dementia may refer to deceased parents or siblings as if they were still alive. There are currently three commonly used approaches for dealing with this situation: (1) Therapeutic Lying whereby the carer goes along with what the person has said; (2) Aikido, which involves sidestepping the upsetting issue, and looking for a deeper truth: the underlying emotion that's causing the situation and (3) Validation Therapy entails recollection of buried memories and emotions with the person thereby accepting their experience, without reorienting them to the present.
The purpose of this study is to inform best practice by identifying the best approach for caregivers to take when people with dementia ask questions or make statements that is false.
The study will be carried out in two phases and will use a combination of research methods.Phase one will concentrate on a review of published literature relevant to how to respond to people with dementia when they ask questions or make statements that are false.
Phase two is directed at listening to the views of people with dementia, carers and professionals. Focus group interviews will be used with the first two groups. Two interviews will be carried out with people who have dementia, one group in Southern Ireland and one in the North. Similarly there will be two focus group interviews with carers.
The views of professionals will be explored using a three round Delphi survey. The purpose of the Delphi survey is to get agreement from experts on the most beneficial approach to take with people with dementia when they ask questions or make statements that are false.
REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
15/NI/0055
Date of REC Opinion
15 Apr 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion