Dementia and nutrition - A fresh approach
Louise Mole, a research active Dietitian and PhD candidate at the University of Plymouth, has been using resources from the Join Dementia Research campaign and support from PenARC to further the understanding of how nutrition can affect the care of people living in their own home with dementia.
Her two recently published papers Family carers’ experiences of nutritional care for people living with dementia at home: An interpretative phenomenological analysis and ‘It’s what you do that makes a difference ’An interpretative phenomenological analysis of health care professionals and home care workers experiences of nutritional care for people living with dementia at home look at the important role that nutrition plays, and how a carer’s understanding of it can improve outcomes, quality of life and wellbeing for people living with dementia at home.
The motivation for the study came from a NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula (or PenARC) funded research position looking into an area in which Louise has specialist insights; nutritional care of people with dementia living at home. The funded PhD position looked to recruit an allied health professional and had to meet one of the Top 10 Priorities for Dementia Research specified by the James Lind Alliance:
What are the most effective ways to encourage people with dementia to eat, drink and maintain nutritional intake?
Louise’s studies investigate how nutrition plays an important role in preventing a decline in health that could see someone with dementia lose independence and be admitted to hospital or a care home. The published literature highlighted a gap in research in this area and that carers could benefit from more information and training on the subject.
The research involved in depth qualitative interviews with family carers and health care professionals to better understand the role they have in providing nutritional support and advice.
To conduct the research, Louise needed to access a group of carers that provided care for people with dementia that lived at home. Finding suitable participants for research studies can be a challenge but thanks to a recommendation from a colleague, Louise contacted Join Dementia Research, a campaign designed specifically to recruit participants to dementia research studies.
“I was interested in speaking to family carers and the JDR website allowed me to filter results of suitable participants. I found it easy to use and the team were helpful,” Louise said.
Join Dementia Research allows anyone to sign up so that researchers can get in contact and invite them to contribute to important research studies. You can sign up for yourself or on behalf of someone you provide care for. Once signed up you can access details of studies happening in your area. Everybody now has that chance to see what dementia research is taking place, both in their local area and across the nation.
Louise is continuing to research in the area with her next study receiving ethical approval. It will work with domiciliary care providers to address the knowledge gap around nutrition and dementia by providing a training tool to support them in identifying the signs of malnutrition and dehydration, and making changes to help improve food and drink intake. The concept of providing a training podcast is being explored so carers can update their knowledge while driving between appointments.
“I want to give carers the confidence, knowledge and skills to help people at home. They are the people in the community that see those living with dementia at home every day. Dementia and nutrition are linked so I hope a bigger trial with more sites will give an exciting opportunity to explore this further,” Louise said.
Through her research Louise has identified an immediate issue and a proactive approach that aims to give carers the tools to help prevent hospital submissions and allow dementia patients to live in their home for longer with a better quality of life.
Louise is on Twitter so follow her for the latest updates on her work: @louwilko
