Dementia care: - an alternative way to wash and dress

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  An exploration of 24 hour postural support with an alternate approach to personal care to reduce agitation.

• IRAS ID

  325185

• Contact name

  Sara Thelwell

• Contact email

  sara.thelwell@denbighshire.gov.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Wrexham University

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 10 months, 27 days

• Research summary

  Personal care for individuals suffering from dementia in the mid to latter stages of the disease is delivered on the bed by 1 or 2 care givers. Care givers will remove the top layer of the bedding and clothing and then using a flannel or sponge to wash and rinse the body and then use a towel to dry the body part before dressing again at the end of the routine. This process involves providing a lot of sensory stimulation and the individual rolling to both sides on numerous occasions to support the washing and dressing.
  During the progression of the disease and the reduction in the sensory part of the brain, the individual is noted to have reduced proprioception (knowing where their body is in space). The effect of reduced proprioception is that the individual is noted to seek safety and full body contact with the bed during their personal care routine. The care giver will often report that the individual will grab and pinch them and push backwards, which is the individual’s way of communicating that they do not feel safe.
  This pilot study / research is being completed to determine whether there is positive effect using a different personal care routine, called Turn Only Once. Within this approach only one body part is uncovered at a time, through the use of wash gloves, the level of sensory stimulation is reduced as the body part is only touched once. All of the body is washed and dressed from the front, using adapted clothing and only turned onto their side to have their back and bottom washed and dressed.
  This research will investigate whether the Turn Only Once routine reduces the level of challenging behaviour and inform the potential for a larger research study

• REC name

  West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  24/WM/0192

• Date of REC Opinion

  1 Oct 2024

• REC opinion

  Unfavourable Opinion