Communication and Dementia Version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Communication skills for staff caring for patients with dementia
IRAS ID
168489
Contact name
Shirley Mitchell
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
Poor communication is a barrier to processes essential for good treatment and care including information gathering and imparting, determining need and ascertaining pain and distress. People with dementia and those who work with them can experience difficulties in communicating. Dementia causes forgetfulness, word finding difficulties, problems understanding, misinterpretation, and difficulty in controlling emotions. Problems are exacerbated by an admission to hospital.
This study aims to identify the the communication skills that overcome some of the challenges of communicating with people with dementia in the acute hospital setting.
We will examine exactly which types of communication are most beneficial in promoting positive interactions with patients with dementia in the acute hospital. We will observe and video record naturally occurring interactions between healthcare professionals (including doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists) and patients. Interactions will include a variety of conversations for a range of purposes (clinical and social). For example we might include an occupational therapist talking to a patient about how they cope at home or a consultant talking to a patient about their medical condition. It is necessary that we video record conversations to capture the non-verbal communication between healthcare professionals and patients. Where patients with dementia have impaired communication, non-verbal communication becomes even more important. These video recorded interactions will be examined to establish the underlying communication strategies, language structures and content, and supporting behaviours (such as facial expression, positioning and other ‘body languages’), so we can distil a toolkit of effective practice. We will use this information to develop a communication skills training intervention to improve how healthcare professionals in acute hospitals communicate with patients with dementia.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/YH/0184
Date of REC Opinion
5 Jun 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion