Dementia care in inpatient forensic services
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring the delivery of dementia care for people in inpatient forensic services
IRAS ID
321663
Contact name
Steven Gillespie
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 28 days
Research summary
Around 900,000 people in the UK are living with dementia. This is predicted to increase to 1.6 million by 2040. A group of people whose experiences we know very little about are people living with dementia within forensic services. These people may be admitted to forensic mental health hospitals because of a decision made by the court, or who have been transferred either from a prison for support from mental health staff, or from another mental health hospital.
People in forensic hospitals have higher rates of well-established risk factors for dementia such as head injuries; drug and alcohol use; diabetes; weight problems; and difficulties with memory, attention, concentration and communication.
The higher rate of risk factors make it more likely that there are people living with dementia in forensic hospitals. This may be problematic as forensic hospitals are not designed primarily to support people living with dementia. If people living with dementia are not supported appropriately, they can experience distress and seem agitated because of things like fear or confusion. Therefore, it is important to conduct research exploring the experiences of people living in these settings. However, to date very little research has been conducted with this population.
The research will include people with a diagnosis of dementia and people who have been identified as possibly having dementia, as they have symptoms, but do not have a formal diagnosis. This is because, there can be barriers to getting a formal diagnosis of dementia, and research shows us that these barriers may be worse for people in forensic services.
We hope to understand ’the experiences of people living with dementia in forensic hospitals, what their needs are and if these are being met. We also want to understand the experiences of staff working in these hospitals supporting people with dementia.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/EM/0183
Date of REC Opinion
10 Oct 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion