Completed Research

Research into dementia and dementia care management is one of several academic activities which Dementia Services Information and Development Centre currently undertakes. The Centre is committed to promoting excellence in all aspects of dementia care research and to creating a dynamic research culture which will attract high quality staff and students to work and study within.

The Centre does not subscribe to any one particular research paradigm, rather its research initiatives stem from practice issues and both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are employed to investigate issues of concern to persons with dementia, family caregivers, and service providers working in the field.

A survey of Dementia specific Day Care Centres in Ireland

This was a national survey of service providers’ attitudes to the design and lay out of day care centres in Ireland offering dementia specific care. The project was undertaken during 2000 and its findings have been published.

Ref: S. Cahill, M. Drury, B. Lawlor, D. O'Connor, and M. O'Connell

'They Have Started to Call It Their Club': A survey of staff views of dementia-specific day care centres in Ireland

Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice; February 1, 2003; 2(1): 85 - 103.

An Exploratory study of Irish Nursing Homes and their Spatial Environment

This project co-funded by the Health Research Board and the Alzheimer Society of Ireland was undertaken to examine the topic of architectural design and dementia care and to explore the extent to which design features in Irish nursing homes comply with an international consensus. Results from the study will contribute to the development of guidelines on accommodation and design for nursing homes offering dementia care (CLICK HERE TO READ THE STUDY REPORT)

Enable

Enable was a European funded longitudinal study designed to test out various assistive technologies in peoples’ homes in order to promote more independent living for people with dementia and to enable them by improving their quality of life.The project was led by Norway and involved the participation of four other countries including Finland, Ireland, England and Lithuania.

Products being tested included, an item locator, (designed to help find items which are regularly mislaid), a night lamp, (designed to assist people with orientation at night), a picture-telephone – which was programmed with names rather than numbers, a cooker switch off device which ensures that gas plates automatically turn off if left on in error and a night and day calendar which is used to aid orientation in time. The project is now complete. A total of some 30 men and women with dementia and their family caregivers participated in the study.

Another component of the ENABLE project involved the testing out of a picture-gramophone in an Irish Day Care Centre. The picture-gramophone is a touchscreen computer, which works in tandem with a CD Rom and enables a person with dementia listen to his or her favourite music whilst the song’s lyrics scroll on the computer screen. The product has been developed by an Occupational Therapist and has been evaluated as part of the ENABLE project. The project's findings provided evidence that technologies can be used creatively to promote more independent living in a person with dementia and reduce caregiver stress.

Enable website: http://www.enableproject.org

Ref: Cahill, S., Begley, E. & Hagen, I.(2008). Health technologies for people with early dementia: The ENABLE Project. In E. Moniz-Cook & J. Manthorpe, (Eds), Psychosocial interventions in Early Dementia: Evidence-Based Practice. Jessica Kingsley, London.

A Study of Recalcitrant Patients and Memory Clinic Appointments

The waiting list for attendance at the National Memory Clinic in Ireland now stands at approximately three months and failure to attend appointments; results in a waste of resources for this already rationed health service.

This small-scale exploratory piece of research was designed to examine the issue of why patients failed to attend a first Memory Clinic appointment. Postal questionnaires were sent to a sample of patients who failed to attend their first Memory Clinic appointments.

The Subjective Experiences of New Patients and their Primary Caregivers attending a National Memory Clinic.

While calls for studies seeking out the perspective of the person with dementia in relation to services received have been made for some time (Cotrell & Schultz, 1993), research investigating this topic has to date been very limited.

This was an exploratory piece of research designed to look at some of the issues and concerns experienced by patients and their principal caregivers attending a memory clinic for the first time. Findings from this pilot study have been used to develop an information booklet for all new attendees presenting at the Memory Clinic.

Ref: Cahill, S., Headon, M., Gibb, M., Drury, M & Bruce, I. (2008).“I was worried coming in because I don’t really know why it was arranged”: The Subjective Experience of New Patients and their Primary Caregivers attending a Memory Clinic”. Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice; Vol. 7, No. 2, 175-189

Detecting and Diagnosing Dementia: The First GP Irish Study.

The DSIDC in collaboration with the ICGP last year completed a research study investigating the topic of services for the detection, diagnosis and disclosure of dementia to patients attending General Practice. The study yielded a wealth of information about Irish GP's attitudes to screening for and diagnosing dementia. GPs could easily identify difficulties experienced detecting dementia in community settings.

Most were reluctant to tell their patients their diagnosis. Overwhelmingly the findings demonstrated a huge interest on the part of Irish GPs for upskilling in the area of dementia management and for training and practice guidelines that would help inform their work.

References:

Cahill, S., Clark, M., O’Connell, H, Lawlor, B., Coen R., & Walsh, C. (2006). Dementia in Primary Care: the first survey of general practitioners, International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry(21), 319 – 324.

Cahill, S., Clark, M., O’Connell, H, Lawlor, B., Coen R., & Walsh, C. (2008).The attitudes and practices of general practitioners regarding dementia diagnosis in Ireland. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (23), 663 - 669.

Challenging Behaviours

Ref: Cahill, S. Behaviours that Challenge: Some Suggestions for Family Caregivers (2008). Forum Journal of the Irish College of General Practitioners