Is dance cafe effective to improve the life of people with dementia?

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Dance Café: Is dance café effective to improve the quality of life of people with dementia?.

  • IRAS ID

    201332

  • Contact name

    Rachel Forrester-Jones

  • Contact email

    r.v.e.forrester-jones@kent.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Kent

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    0 years, 2 months, 0 days

  • Research summary

    The primary aim of this study is to assess how effective a dance cafe can improve the quality of life of residents with dementia. The secondary objectives are to see if the dance cafe improves nutrition, balance, reduces the risk of falls and hospital admissions.

    The study will use a mixture of methods - measuring their quality of life, the nutrition and problems experienced by the residents - and involving staff and families in interviews and focus groups.

    The study will be based at Darland Nursing Home,part of a Social Enterprise Organisation. There are forty residents with diagnoses of dementia living in the home. Staff provide nursing care and support to the residents. Accommodation is spread over two floors,divided into four units. Each unit provides ten beds for people who have high care dependency needs, defined as needing nursing care including being nursed in bed, requiring specialist equipment to meet needs, or needing constant supervision or high staff input.

    A total of ten residents will be selected from both floors of the home to take part in the study - five will be chosen from each floor. Five will be randomly allocated to the group to receive the dance cafe and the other five (the control group) will not receive the dance cafe until later. Both groups will be assessed for nutrition, falls, balance, mobility and quality of life.

    Six relatives of the residents and four members of staff will be invited to form a focus groups to allow them to express their feelings about the intervention.

    All residents are funded by NHS Continuing Care.

  • REC name

    East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    17/EE/0005

  • Date of REC Opinion

    8 Mar 2017

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion