School of Nursing & Midwifery Annual Report 2018

Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC

Implementing Evidence Based Guidance for Dementia Palliative Care Project commissioned by the Health Research Board

The Story: In 2013, the Irish Hospice Foundation embarked on a three-year programme entitled Changing Minds: Promoting Excellence in End-of-life Care for People with Dementia. A suite of guidance documents were developed for healthcare staff to help improve palliative care for people with dementia. The seven IHF guidance documents are designed to support healthcare staff to address specific aspects of dementia palliative care in all care settings. The guidance documents were developed by the IHF in collaboration with researchers at University College Cork to fill an identified gap in practice guidelines for people providing palliative dementia care. To evaluate the impact of three of these guidance documents, the researcher team secured funding from Health Research Board - Applied Partnership Awards 2018. These awards are designed to bring knowledge users and academic researchers together to develop research projects that address a specific need within the Irish health or social care system. Currently, the team are conducting a multi-site participatory action research (PAR) approach underpinned by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to

evaluate three of the guidance documents (guidance for pain, hydration & nutrition and medication management on dementia palliative care). Three Long Term Care (LTC) facilities have been recruited as study sites and one evidence based guidance document will be implemented per site. The proposed approach includes a number of stages, data collected is occurring at three time periods i.e. pre, during and post implementation of the guidance through situational (institutional and stakeholder) analysis. The governance structure includes a Project Management Committee and External Advisory Group with key stakeholders. This research facilitates the translation and application of evidence based guidance for dementia palliative care and will increase staff knowledge and confidence when caring for people with complex needs. The Team: Professor Alice Coffey (Lead Researcher), Dr Nicola Cornally, Dr Irene Hartigan, Dr Elaine Lehane, Dr Catherine Buckley, Dr Suzanne Timmons, Dr. Kathy Mc Loughlin, Ms Marie Lynch.

PROJECT PARTNERS

Our research supports healthcare staff to address specific aspects of dementia palliative care in all care settings.

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