Experiences of healthcare assistants working with clients with dementia in residential care homes

Law, Katharine; Patterson, Tom; Muers, Jane

doi:10.1177/1471301216688396

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 18 publications

(23 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The depictions of dementia through various art forms and from multiple perspectives enables care staff to explore their emotional reactions to dementia and attune to the perceptual experiences and communicative cues of people with dementia. The programme also supports reflective group discussions, which are increasingly recognised as an important and effective learning format within dementia care training (Law, Patterson, & Muers, 2017 ; Morris, Horne, McEvoy, & Williamson, 2017 ; Surr et al., 2017 ). However, there is little in the way of theory to suggest whether the arts-based elements can be more influential than reflective discussions without arts for care staff.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing communication between dementia care staff and their residents: an arts-inspired intervention

Windle

Algar-Skaife

Caulfield

et al. 2019

Aging & Mental Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: The arts are increasingly recognised as important and beneficial activities for people living with dementia. However, there is little peer-reviewed published research exploring arts-based learning for dementia care staff. In response, this paper explores (a) how dementia care staff describe forms of communication in care settings, and (b) the impact on communication following four sessions of ‘Creative Conversations’, an arts-based intervention for skills development. Method: Fourteen care homes received the intervention, delivered as 4 × 2 hour sessions. The intervention uses a range of activities (e.g. poetry, film, music, art making). Twenty–eight care staff were opportunistically sampled (mean age = 42.29), and provided pre-post qualitative data, obtained through interviews. Transcripts were analysed thematically. Results: At baseline, the dominant ‘task-focussed’ nature of care work was described as a barrier to communication, challenging opportunities for developing meaningful relationships with residents. Post-intervention, three primary themes were identified regarding improving communication: (1) learning through the arts (secondary themes: simplicity and subtlety, innovation in communication , and strengthening the role of non-verbal communication ), (2) Enhancing creative approaches to care (secondary themes: element of surprise, confidence to experiment and catalyst for communication ) and (3) professional introspection (secondary themes: development of empathy, sharing knowledge and experiences and a new appreciation ). Conclusions: The intervention validated staff skills and confidence, enabling meaningful interactions that could be creative, ‘in the moment’, spontaneous and improvised. This arts-based intervention, which departs from formal education and fact-based learning may be particularly useful for the development of the dementia care workforce.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing communication between dementia care staff and their residents: an arts-inspired intervention

Windle

Algar-Skaife

Caulfield

et al. 2019

Aging & Mental Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, we recruited care home staff from homes only in Greater London. Therefore, the results are only the opinions of the staff working in these homes and may not reflect the range of experiences of care home staff, who have different experiences based on their roles, training, and education (Law et al, 2019). Interviews were only with staff, and therefore, we only present their subjective perceptions of how they deliver care for their residents with dementia (Rapaport et al, 2018) and not the views of people living with dementia.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As they were staff who opted in to take part, they may have more positive experiences within their roles than those who did not, which may bias the results (Law et al, 2019). We asked staff about their experiences and to pick the residents they wished to speak about; however, they may have been more likely to think of residents when sleep disturbances were more disruptive or had a greater impact.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of sleep disturbances on care home residents with dementia: the SIESTA qualitative study

Webster¹,

Powell²,

Costafreda

et al. 2020

Int. Psychogeriatr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: Nearly 40% of care home residents who are living with dementia also have symptoms of disturbed sleep. However, the impact of these disturbances is relatively unknown and is needed to indicate whether interventions are warranted; therefore, we aimed to investigate the impact. Design: One-to-one semi-structured interviews. Settings: Four UK care homes. Participants: We interviewed 18 nurses and care assistants about residents with sleep disturbances. Measurements: We used a topic guide to explore staff experience of sleep disturbance in residents with dementia. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed and then analyzed thematically by two researchers independently. Results: Staff described that sleep disturbances in most, but not all, residents impacted negatively on the resident, other residents, staff, and relatives. Residents became more irritable or agitated if they had slept badly. They slept in the daytime after a bad night, which then increased their chances of being awake the following night. For some, being sleepy in the day led to falls, missing medication, drinks, and meals. Staff perceived hypnotics as having low efficacy, but increasing the risk of falls and drowsiness. Other residents were disturbed by noise, and staff described stress when several residents had sleep disturbance. Some of the strategies reported by staff to deal with sleep disturbances such as feeding or providing caffeinated tea at night might be counterproductive. Conclusions: Sleep disturbances in care home residents living with dementia negatively affect their physical and psychological well-being. These disturbances also disturb other residents and increase stress in staff.

show abstract

“…For some homecare managers the benefits of fostering a collaborative organisational culture were more evident than others, thus further research might be helpful in understanding what enables such emphasis. Such matters are probably not confined to homecare because a recent small study of care home workers supporting residents with dementia similarly suggested that collegiality and peer support combined with instances of positive feedback helped frontline workers manage feelings of lack of recognition or being taken advantage of that might otherwise be overwhelming (Law et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working with colleagues and other professionals when caring for people with dementia at the end of life: home care workers’ experiences

Manthorpe

Vandrevala

Abrams

et al. 2019

International Journal of Care and Caring

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Caring for people with dementia often necessitates inter-professional and inter-agency working but there is limited evidence of how home care staff work as a team and with professionals from different agencies. Through analysis of semi-structured interviews, we explored the experiences of home care workers (n = 30) and managers of home care services (n = 13) in England (2016‐17). Both groups sought to collaboratively establish formal and informal practices of teamwork. Beyond the home care agency, experiences of interacting with the wider health and care workforce differed. More explicit encouragement of support for home care workers is needed by other professionals and their employers.

show abstract

Experiences of healthcare assistants working with clients with dementia in residential care homes

Cited by 8 publications

References 18 publications

Enhancing communication between dementia care staff and their residents: an arts-inspired intervention

Enhancing communication between dementia care staff and their residents: an arts-inspired intervention

The impact of sleep disturbances on care home residents with dementia: the SIESTA qualitative study

Working with colleagues and other professionals when caring for people with dementia at the end of life: home care workers’ experiences

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About