DA VINCI: Developing visual identification for dementia patients (v1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
DA VINCI: Developing A Visual IdentificatioN method for people with Cognitive Impairment in hospitals: What affects the quality of care for people with cognitive impairment in hospitals and where can a visual system help? Health professionals’ views.
IRAS ID
276610
Contact name
Carolyn Tarrant
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leicester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 28 days
Research summary
Approximately a quarter of hospital beds are occupied by someone living with dementia. Once hospitalised, they are at risk of delirium, falls, incontinence, poor nutrition, immobility, functional decline and pressure sores. These, along with medication errors, are largely preventable harms which can result when patients with dementia are not correctly assessed and treated. Some hospitals have systems in place to visually identify these patients e.g. coloured wristbands, or symbols on patient’s notes.
There is currently no standardised approach to visually identifying people with dementia in NHS hospitals, and little understanding of whether, or how these schemes can address the issues that people with dementia face when hospitalised. Evidence is lacking about how patients, carers and staff feel about the use of visual identification systems, and what the positive and negative consequences might be of using such a system. This study will interview health professionals in up to four NHS hospitals about their experiences of providing care to people with dementia, and their views on visual identification systems.
We will draw on actor-network theory (ANT) as an approach to understanding how technologies become used and accepted. This framework will help to develop insights into the interaction between visual identification systems, human actors in healthcare, and the wider hospital systems and infrastructure.
Through the views of health professionals we aim to understand what affects the quality of care for people with cognitive impairment in hospital settings and where a visual system can help.
Interviews, observations and interactive workshops with people with dementia, and carers will follow on from this research and will be the subject of a separate application for ethical approval.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A