Optimising acute oncology services for people with dementia.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Optimising acute oncology services for people with dementia.
IRAS ID
300801
Contact name
Laura Ashley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Leeds Beckett University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 7 months, 31 days
Research summary
BACKGROUND: Many people with dementia (PwD) will develop cancer in their lifetime, with some requiring urgent cancer care. In England, urgent cancer care is provided by an NHS acute oncology service (AOS). There are no published figures for the number of PwD accessing AOS, but it is likely that there are a significant number since they are more likely than people who do not have dementia to present as an emergency hospital admission and experience more than one hospital admission. We know that generally PwD experience additional cancer care challenges and inferior health outcomes to people without dementia. These may be of increased significance for PwD accessing AOS and may also adversely affect key outcome measures used to evaluate and commission AOS (e.g. hospital length of stay, readmission rates, etc.). Several recent studies examining hospital-based, out-patient cancer care for PwD have identified practical strategies to improve care provision. This study aims to extend this examination to AOS.
AIM: To examine the experiences, challenges and support needs of PwD, their informal carers and clinicians in relation to AOS care provision, and to identify ways to address these.
PARTICIPANTS:
Up to 15 PwD currently accessing (or who have recently accessed) an AOS in England.
Up to 20 of their informal carers.
Up to 30 clinicians working in an AOS, or with patients accessing AOS.METHOD: A qualitative study using several methods of data collection: semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observations and conversations, and documentary evidence.
OUTPUTS:
Results will be shared with people with dementia and cancer, informal carers, AOS teams, and other relevant NHS services. This will be in the form of leaflets, reports, social media posts, journal articles, conference presentations and a PhD thesis. Results will also be used to develop and test new and different approaches to AOS care in the future.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/YH/0123
Date of REC Opinion
23 Jun 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion