Risk Communication in Dementia Care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Risk Communication in Dementia Care
IRAS ID
159779
Contact name
Ian Taylor
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Ulster University
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
This study addresses practice issues of risk communication in dementia care.
Risk communication has been defined as the open, two way exchange of information and opinion about risk, leading to better understanding and better decisions about clinical management (Edwards et al., 2002).A systematic literature search on this topic has established that there are currently no research papers focusing explicitly on the topic of risk communication in dementia care.
The study will aim to:
• Identify concepts of risk used by professionals, family carers and people with mild to moderate dementia;
• Identify the risk factors they encounter and address most commonly in dementia care decisions in Northern Ireland;
• Explore in detail how professionals communicate about the likelihood of some risks using words, numbers and visual methods to present probabilities.The study will involve four phases of data collection including interviews with individuals with dementia who have recently been involved in making a decision regarding their care that involved weighing up risks; focus group sessions with people caring for a family member living at home with dementia; focus group sessions with professional community health and social care staff working with people with dementia and a web-administered survey with community health and social care professionals working with people with dementia. Interviews and focus groups will be analysed using a qualitative approach while survey results will be analysed quantitatively.
The project aims to benefit individuals with dementia, their family members and/or Health and Social Care Professionals working in Dementia Care in the following ways:
• Provide recommendations for good practice in risk communication in dementia care.
• Inform development of practice guidelines and tools for risk communication in dementia care.
• Support people with dementia to make decisions about remaining in their own homes for longer if they wish by helping to understand and manage risks more effectively.REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
15/NI/0008
Date of REC Opinion
5 Mar 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion