One social hour a week in dementia care improves lives and saves money
These are the findings from a large-scale trial led by the University of Exeter, King's College London and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. These results were presented today (July 16) at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2017 (AAIC). The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The trial involved more than 800 people with dementia across 69 care homes in South London, North London and Buckinghamshire. Two 'care staff champions' at each home were trained over four day-long sessions, to take simple measures that such as involve talking to residents about their interests and decisions around their own care. When combined with just one hour a week of social interaction, it improved quality of life and reduced agitation. Importantly, the approach also saved money compared to standard care. Researchers say the next key challenge is to roll the programme to the 28,000 care homes in the UK to benefit the lives of th...