A multi-method evaluation of an independent dementia care service and its approach

Pritchard, Emma; Dewing, Jan

doi:10.1080/13607860020020663

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In order to take advantage of these volunteers’ knowledge and skills, staff should speak with volunteers and provide personal evaluations, and try to connect them more closely to the services in the activity center. A better understanding of volunteer characteristics and motivations will promote a more successful relationship between volunteers and staff11 and one of these important characteristics is having had a former professional role. If volunteering is to be a productive activity for aging people, attention needs to be paid to well-known barriers21 such as volunteer work that is considered boring or an ineffective use of the volunteers’ skills and experiences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Volunteering in dementia care – a Norwegian phenomenological study

Söderhamn¹,

Landmark²,

Aasgaard³

et al. 2012

JMDH

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IntroductionThe number of people suffering from dementia will increase dramatically in the future, and this will be a great challenge and concern for health care services. It is assumed that volunteers will strengthen community health care services more in the future than they do today.AimThe aim of this study was to elucidate lived experiences of working as a volunteer in an activity center with adapted activities for home-dwelling people with early stage dementia.MethodsQualitative interviews were implemented in a group of nine female volunteers from an activity center in southern Norway. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed with a descriptive phenomenological method.ResultsVolunteering in an activity center for home-dwelling people with early stage dementia was reported to provide experiences of being useful and feeling satisfied with performing a good job. It was an advantage for the volunteers to have had experiences from life in general, but also as a health professional or as being the next of kin of a dementia sufferer. It was important for the volunteers to focus on the dementia sufferer and show caring behavior, and interaction with and the appreciation of the health care professionals were also important. The volunteers were motivated by being able to have influence and participate in the planning of the work, to be a part of the social setting, and to learn. However, for some volunteers it was difficult to adjust to an appropriate role.ConclusionIn order to promote volunteering in a caring context, mutual trust and freedom should be emphasized. Being conscious of important volunteer characteristics like their experiences, knowledge, and caring behavior, as well as a focus on the staff showing appreciation and providing feedback, may be the difference between success and failure.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Volunteering in dementia care – a Norwegian phenomenological study

Söderhamn¹,

Landmark²,

Aasgaard³

et al. 2012

JMDH

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“…There were some examples of the use of more innovative methods to evaluate interventions. For instance, researchers (Pritchard & Dewing 2001) in the UK used multiple methods to evaluate the Specialised Early Care of Alzheimer's (SPECAL) dementia care service. This included undertaking: a literature review; reviews of past and present client documentation; a document audit; interviews with patients, carers and key professionals, as well as a focus group; self-report questionnaires; and dementia care mapping.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scoping the field: services for carers of people with mental health problems

Arksey

2003

Health &Amp; Social Care in the Community

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Mental ill health is very common. Most people with mental health problems live in the community, and as many as 1.5 million people in the UK may be involved in caring for a relative or friend with a mental illness or some form of dementia. Recent legislation and policy initiatives such as the National Strategy for Carers, and the National Service Frameworks for Mental Health and Older People emphasise the importance of providing support for this particular group of carers. The present paper reports the findings of a scoping study to identify what the research tells us about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions for the carers of people with mental health problems, and also where there are gaps in the knowledge base. Some 204 evaluation studies were included in the review, just 13 of which had an economic component. The majority of studies were conducted in the USA, and were aimed at carers of people with Alzheimer disease or other forms of dementia. Overall, there was a lack of strong evidence to support any specific interventions, although almost all studies were able to identify some positive outcomes of services provided. In contrast to the relatively narrow approach to effectiveness adopted in most of the studies reviewed, the contributors to a consultation exercise perceived this concept in a far more rounded and holistic way. For them, the process of service delivery was as important as the outcome. There was relatively little research evaluating interventions and services singled out in UK policy initiatives as potentially useful in supporting this group of carers, and further evaluation studies are needed.

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“…Fourthly, given that research in the field of dementia is complex, a mixed-methods approach which can recognise and synthesise both quantitative and qualitative data offers great potential for improving our understanding of what issues of living with dementia are especially relevant and why [52–55]. Adapting the embedded qualitative method to enable data collection as part of the structured interview within a larger quantitative study could prove an efficient means to explore the lived experience.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying a new concept of embedding qualitative research: an example from a quantitative study of carers of people in later stage dementia

et al. 2019

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Background Qualitative methods are increasingly included in larger studies to provide a richer understanding of people’s experience. This paper explores the potential of using a novel approach to embedded qualitative design as part of an observational study examining the effectiveness of home support for people in later stage dementia in England. The method involved collecting and analysing unsolicited conversational comments made by participants as they completed standardised measures. An evaluation of the method is presented using the voices of participants to illustrate its potential. Methods The conversations of 17 carers recruited to an observational study were audio recorded to gather commentary made while completing a structured interview. Data were interrogated using thematic analysis to investigate the feasibility of conducting an embedded qualitative study, the potential richness of the material and participants’ reactions to formal questioning and participating in research. Results The findings revealed that qualitative data were available from this approach. Analysis generated three themes from carers: conflicting carer emotions; the importance of maintaining normality and agency within day-to-day life; and tensions between these desires and making use of formal services. Important issues for carers were revealed establishing the benefit of using the method. The advantages of exploiting unsolicited conversation included enhancing understanding of people’s lived experience, reducing participant burden in research and easing the process of data collection. In addition, it provided an opportunity to evaluate individuals’ experience of the research process. Conclusions The findings demonstrate how unsolicited comments during structured interviews may appear incidental but can reveal important aspects of living with dementia. The method also emphasised methodological challenges for research in dementia, including the influence and impact of the research context. Further research is required to evaluate the method with other groups including people with dementia themselves. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12877-019-1240-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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A multi-method evaluation of an independent dementia care service and its approach

Cited by 19 publications

References 23 publications

Volunteering in dementia care – a Norwegian phenomenological study

Volunteering in dementia care – a Norwegian phenomenological study

Scoping the field: services for carers of people with mental health problems

Applying a new concept of embedding qualitative research: an example from a quantitative study of carers of people in later stage dementia

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A multi-method evaluation of an independent dementia care service and its approach

Cited by 19 publications

References 23 publications

Volunteering in dementia care &ndash; a Norwegian phenomenological study

Volunteering in dementia care &ndash; a Norwegian phenomenological study

Scoping the field: services for carers of people with mental health problems

Applying a new concept of embedding qualitative research: an example from a quantitative study of carers of people in later stage dementia

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Volunteering in dementia care – a Norwegian phenomenological study

Volunteering in dementia care – a Norwegian phenomenological study