Improving support for family carers by identifying effective online interventions and strategies that strengthen their ability to assist people living with dementia with daily activities.
Why the research is needed?
Family carers are sometimes the main providers of support to people living with dementia. Their role includes offering support with different activities of daily living (ADLs), such as cooking, dressing and bathing. Despite using different approaches to support ADLs, carers often lack the skills and training needed for this role. Post-diagnostic support offered within services also varies greatly, where a provision of training for carers to help them provide support on ADLs seems to be missing from the interventions those services are offering. Participation in ADLs is linked to better quality of life, reduced need of formal support and delayed relocation to a care facility.
What are we doing?
We aim to identify the online interventions currently available that focus on support strategies for daily activities, understand carers’ experiences when providing support with everyday tasks, and determine how these support strategies influence both the time carers spend supporting a person living with dementia and the person’s ability to carry out activities of daily living.
We will conduct a systematic review on available online interventions and carers' experiences of providing support. In addition, we will undertake a secondary data analysis.
How are we working with communities, services and organisations?
We have visited local dementia cafes and community groups to meet and discuss this project with people with different backgrounds, locations and needs. The project will establish an advisory group to receive objective feedback and guidance while developing the project.
What will the impact and benefits of this research be?
An online intervention to upskill carers on how to provide support with ADLs has the potential to provide tailored information and practical support to enhance the caring role. When carers feel more confident and better equipped. To support daily tasks, interactions may become less stressful and more collaborative. This will encourage a more positive and supportive relationship between the person living with dementia and their family carers, ultimately improving the emotional wellbeing and quality of life of both.
What do we have planned for knowledge mobilisation and implementation?
Our knowledge mobilisation and implementation plans include working with Health Innovation East to strengthen understanding of implementation approaches, and sharing emerging findings through multiple dissemination activities. To date, we have presented two posters at the Alzheimer’s Europe Conference and the ARC Symposium, delivered a dementia webinar at the University of Nottingham, and shared the project with the London Memory Service Occupational Therapy Network.
Related papers, outputs and resources
A second systematic review on the carers’ experiences of providing support is under review
Who is involved?
- Principal Investigator: Julieta Camino, University of East Anglia
- Supervisor: Professor Eneida Mioshi, University of East Anglia
- Dr Tamara Backhouse, University of East Anglia
- Dr Mizanur Khondoker, University of East Anglia
Get in contact
Email Julieta Camino at j.camino@uea.ac.uk.
