Emergency decision making in dementia care: Exploring context and stakeholder perspectives for intervention development

Introduction

Jemima’s previous fellowship research exposed some of the many challenges of access to urgent care in dementia. Presenting symptoms can be unclear and treatment plans require balancing differing agendas. The person with dementia may not have been involved (or have forgotten being involved) with the decision to access healthcare services, causing complex interactional dynamics. These problems are even more apparent in high-acuity situations such as following a call to ambulance services, and that care homes are at the forefront of these challenges.

Objectives

This award will support Jemima to collect pilot data and submit a successful proposal for further research, which will design and test an intervention to improve decision making in urgent care for people living with dementia.

The objectives are to:

1. Collect and analyse video recordings of ambulance visits to people living with dementia to provide an evidence base for intervention development
2. Form collaborations with people living with dementia, family/professional carers, and emergency service staff to co-produce research outputs and co-design the grant proposal
3. Undertake training in design, engagement and co-production to enable an impactful research career.