End of Life decision making for patients with dementia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Caring for people with dementia at end of life: The clinical decision-making process of healthcare professionals within primary care.
IRAS ID
310120
Contact name
Jessica Baillie
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University, Research and Innovation Service
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 6 months, 28 days
Research summary
The prevalence of dementia worldwide is rapidly rising and is the primary cause of ill health globally. At present, there is no known cure for dementia and consequently, at some point in the course of the disease, end-of-life care (EoLC) will be required. The disease itself holds an irregular progression of patient deterioration and therefore necessitates the need for specific EoLC decision-making that is focused on dementia. Within primary care, healthcare professionals are involved in making these decisions and with more patients dying at home, these decisions are frequent and more vital than ever.
Following the review of the literature, a clear gap in the research was identified, it recognised that little is known about the decision-making process that takes place for this patient group within primary care. In order to better understand this, the PhD research aims to determine what factors inform healthcare professionals’ clinical decision-making in providing EoLC to patients with dementia in primary care.
The research will use a qualitative research design, using an ethnographic approach. This approach will allow the researcher to observe healthcare professionals working within primary care who are involved in the decision-making process of patients with dementia at end of life. Data will be collected via observations, interviews and analysis of documents. A sample size of approx. 30 healthcare professionals will be recruited from three different settings: rural, urban, and metropolitan from one Health Board in South Wales. A purposive sample of healthcare professionals’ will be recruited, these will be identified by the senior nurse in primary care and GP Neighbourhood Care Network lead. The data collected will be analysed thematically, interview transcripts, fieldnotes and documents such as policies, national and local frameworks and guidelines will be read identifying the key patterns which will be grouped into themes and categories.REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A