An observational study of communication skills to manage distress
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A conversation analytic study to identify communication practices used by healthcare practitioners caring for people living with dementia who are in hospital, to avoid or resolve episodes of distress and challenging behaviour
IRAS ID
307895
Contact name
Rowan H Harwood
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 10 months, days
Research summary
We want to see what sort of communication helps avoid or resolve distress and challenging behaviours for people in hospital who have dementia. This is phase one of a larger study which will develop a communication skills training course, and a ‘train-the-trainer’ course to teach hospital clinical educators to deliver our course.
People who have dementia often get distressed when they are in hospital. Distress can be shown by agitation, aggression or calling out. How healthcare practitioners say things can calm or inflame a difficult situation, but this has not been studied in detail in this setting. ‘Conversation Analysis’ is a research method which looks at the fine detail of the language we use, including ‘body language’, and the responses to it. In a previous study we analysed video recordings of real-life ward care to develop new advice on aspects of talking to someone with dementia. We used what we found to train ward staff and showed that it improved how they communicated in practice.
We will video and audio record 50 episodes of care for patients with dementia, which staff anticipate are going to be difficult, on 10 older person wards in 2 acute hospitals. We will involve patients in decisions to take part and get advice from patients’ families before we record anything. We will analyse the talk used and responses to it so we can identify communication that avoids or resolves distress in practice. This study will last 6 months. Patients will be recorded up to three times and included in the study for the duration of their hospital stay. Healthcare practitioners will be included for the duration of the study.
We are a multi-professional team who regularly work with patients who have dementia, putting us in an ideal position to do this valuable but sensitive research.
REC name
Wales REC 7
REC reference
22/WA/0023
Date of REC Opinion
31 Jan 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion