Namaste Care Implementation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Delivering Excellent Care Every Day for People Living with Advanced Dementia: Namaste Care Intervention UK
IRAS ID
231297
Contact name
Dawn J Brooker
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Worcester
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
293 (AS-IGF-15-001), Alzheimer's Society
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
The aim of this implementation study is to lay the foundations for the scale-up of an evidence based intervention that provides a practical, systematic approach to meeting the physical, sensory and emotional needs of people living with advanced dementia. Namaste is a multi-component intervention developed in the USA shown to reduce distress behaviours, pain, use of antipsychotics, hypnotics and depressive symptoms and inappropriate hospitalisation in people living with advanced dementia. Evidence from research and practice in the UK to date will be synthesised to establish the optimal intervention. A series of six sequential linked implementation studies utilising Kotter’s 8-step process for change management will be undertaken in care homes posing different challenges (eg size, staff engagement, training, skill-mix, rostering and sustaining practice). This will establish feasibility, acceptability, including feedback from participating residents, families, staff and managers, potential effectiveness and a preliminary costing model. The outcome will be an in-depth description of the optimal intervention (manualised guidance available on-line and in print with expert practitioners who can mentor new programmes) that can be rolled out across care homes, and that is operationalised in terms of staff and resources and costs. This will include guidance on how to deal with common barriers eg competing priorities, lack of time, staff changes, engaging families and regulators. An on-line “Community of Namaste Practice” will be built to gather feedback from multiple sites throughout the research. This will also be a major vehicle for generating and maintaining interest in implementation for further roll-out.
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SC/0430
Date of REC Opinion
6 Sep 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion