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Zhou Y, Thakkar N, Phelan EA, Ishado E, Li CY, Borson S, Sadak T. How do care partners overcome the challenges associated with falls of community-dwelling older people with dementia? A qualitative study. DEMENTIA 2024:14713012241267137. [PMID: 39033360 DOI: 10.1177/14713012241267137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Previous studies have found that falls among community-dwelling older people with dementia negatively impact the health and well-being of their relative/friend care partners. Limited studies have explored the challenges care partners experience because of older people's falls (including fall incidents and fall risks). We sought to investigate care partners' experiences of these challenges and how care partners responded. METHODS We conducted an inductive thematic analysis of 48 dementia care partner interviews (age range: 33-86, mean: 61, 70.8% women; 58.3% adult children; 29.2% spouse; 62.5% completed college; 25% people of color), conducted after a health crisis of older people with dementia from three local university-affiliated hospitals in the United States. FINDINGS Care partners reported that falls in older people with dementia can intensify overall care demands and lead to self-sacrificing behaviors, dissatisfaction with healthcare providers, conflicts with care recipients, and intense emotions. Care partners described several adaptations to mitigate these impacts, including practicing acceptance, approaching falls as an opportunity for learning, facilitating collaborations within formal/informal care networks, collaborating with older people with dementia to balance autonomy and safety, and modifying the physical environment. DISCUSSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Falls among older people with dementia are a significant stressor and an important activation stimulus for their care partners. Our findings suggest that care partners are "second clients" and "competent collaborators." As they provide important insights about fall prevention, care partners should be engaged to co-design new multi-level interventions to facilitate collaborations among care networks, older people with dementia, and service providers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanjin Zhou
- Steve Hicks School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, USA
| | - Nirali Thakkar
- Steve Hicks School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Phelan
- Department of Health Systems and Population Health, University of Washington, USA
| | - Emily Ishado
- School of Nursing, University of Washington, USA
| | - Chih-Ying Li
- Department of Occupational Therapy, and School of Public and Population Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, USA
- Department of Population Health and Health Disparities, University of Texas Medical Branch, USA
| | - Soo Borson
- Department of Family Medicine, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, USA
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Greene L, Barber R, Bingham A, Connors J, Conroy S, Elkhafer K, Fox C, Goodwin V, Gordon A, Hall AJ, Harwood RH, Hulme C, Jackson T, Litherland R, Morgan-Trimmer S, Pankiewicz S, Parry SW, Sharma A, Ukoumunne O, Whale B, Allan L. Maintaining independence in individuals with dementia at home after a fall: a protocol for the UK pilot cluster randomised controlled trial MAINTAIN. BMJ Open 2024; 14:e083494. [PMID: 38307534 PMCID: PMC10836345 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-083494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/04/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Individuals with dementia face an increased risk of falls. Falls can cause a decline in the individual's overall functionality. All types of falls, including those that do not result in injury, can lead to psychosocial consequences, such as diminished confidence and a fear of falling. Projections indicate a rising trend in dementia diagnoses, implying an increase in fall incidents. Yet, there is a lack of evidence to support interventions for people living with dementia who have fallen. Our objective is to test the feasibility of a falls intervention trial for people with dementia. METHOD AND ANALYSIS This is a UK-based two-arm pilot cluster randomised controlled trial. In this study, six collaborating sites, which form the clusters, will be randomly allocated to either the intervention arm or the control arm (receiving treatment as usual) at a 1:1 ratio. During the 6 month recruitment phase, each cluster will enrol 10 dyads, comprising 10 individuals with dementia and their respective carers, leading to a total sample size of 60 dyads. The primary outcomes are the feasibility parameters for a full trial (ie, percentage consented, follow-up rate and cost framework). Secondary outcomes include activities of daily living, quality of life, fall efficacy, mobility, goal attainment, cognitive status, occurrence of falls, carer burden and healthcare service utilisation. Outcome measures will be collected at baseline and 28 weeks, with an additional assessment scheduled at 12 weeks for the healthcare service utilisation questionnaire. An embedded process evaluation, consisting of interviews and observations with participants and healthcare professionals, will explore how the intervention operates and the fidelity of study processes. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION The study was approved by the NHS and local authority research governance and research ethics committees (NHS REC reference: 23/WA/0126). The results will be shared at meetings and conferences and will be published in peer-reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER ISRCTN16413728.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leanne Greene
- Department of Health and Community Sciences, University of Exeter Medical School, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Robert Barber
- Centre for Health of the Elderly, Cumbria Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Alison Bingham
- Department of Health and Community Sciences, University of Exeter Medical School, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - James Connors
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula, Department of Health and Community Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences University of Exeter, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Simon Conroy
- St Pancras Rehabilitation Unit, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Kamr Elkhafer
- Department of Health and Community Sciences, University of Exeter Medical School, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Chris Fox
- Department of Health and Community Sciences, University of Exeter Medical School, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Victoria Goodwin
- Department of Public Health and Sport Science, University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Adam Gordon
- Academic Unit of Injury, Recovery and Inflammation Sciences (IRIS) School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Abigail J Hall
- Department of Public Health and Sports Science, University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Rowan H Harwood
- School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham School of Health Sciences, Nottingham, UK
| | - Claire Hulme
- Department of Health and Community Sciences, University of Exeter Medical School, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - T Jackson
- Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | | | - Sarah Morgan-Trimmer
- Department of Health and Community Sciences, University of Exeter Medical School, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Sophie Pankiewicz
- Department of Health and Community Sciences, University of Exeter Medical School, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Steve W Parry
- Population and Health Sciences Institute Newcastle University, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Ashima Sharma
- Department of Health and Community Sciences, University of Exeter Medical School, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Obioha Ukoumunne
- NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula, Department of Health and Community Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences University of Exeter, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Bethany Whale
- Department of Health and Community Sciences, University of Exeter Medical School, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Louise Allan
- Department of Health and Community Sciences, University of Exeter Medical School, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
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Eost-Telling C, Yang Y, Norman G, Hall A, Hanratty B, Knapp M, Robinson L, Todd C. Digital technologies to prevent falls in people living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment: a rapid systematic overview of systematic reviews. Age Ageing 2024; 53:afad238. [PMID: 38219225 PMCID: PMC10788098 DOI: 10.1093/ageing/afad238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Revised: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/16/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Falls are a common cause of potentially preventable death, disability and loss of independence with an annual estimated cost of £4.4bn. People living with dementia (PlwD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have an increased fall risk. This overview evaluates evidence for technologies aiming to reduce falls and fall risk for PlwD or MCI. METHODS In October 2022, we searched five databases for evidence syntheses. We used standard methods to rapidly screen, extract data, assess risk of bias and overlap, and synthesise the evidence for each technology type. RESULTS We included seven systematic reviews, incorporating 22 relevant primary studies with 1,412 unique participants. All reviews had critical flaws on AMSTAR-2: constituent primary studies were small, heterogeneous, mostly non-randomised and assessed as low or moderate quality. Technologies assessed were: wearable sensors, environmental sensor-based systems, exergaming, virtual reality systems. We found no evidence relating to apps. Review evidence for the direct impact on falls was available only from environmental sensors, and this was inconclusive. For wearables and virtual reality technologies there was evidence that technologies may differentiate PlwD who fell from those who did not; and for exergaming that balance may be improved. CONCLUSIONS The evidence for technology to reduce falls and falls risk for PlwD and MCI is methodologically weak, based on small numbers of participants and often indirect. There is a need for higher-quality RCTs to provide robust evidence for effectiveness of fall prevention technologies. Such technologies should be designed with input from users and consideration of the wider implementation context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Eost-Telling
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
- Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| | - Yang Yang
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
- Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
| | - Gill Norman
- Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| | - Alex Hall
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
- Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
| | - Barbara Hanratty
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE4 5PL, UK
| | - Martin Knapp
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit, Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, UK
| | - Louise Robinson
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE4 5PL, UK
| | - Chris Todd
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Older People and Frailty Policy Research Unit, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
- Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
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Allan LM, Wheatley A, Smith A, Flynn E, Homer T, Robalino S, Beyer FR, Fox C, Howel D, Barber R, Connolly JA, Robinson L, Parry SW, Rochester L, Corner L, Bamford C. An intervention to improve outcomes of falls in dementia: the DIFRID mixed-methods feasibility study. Health Technol Assess 2020; 23:1-208. [PMID: 31661058 DOI: 10.3310/hta23590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fall-related injuries are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in people with dementia. There is presently little evidence to guide the management of such injuries, and yet there are potentially substantial benefits to be gained if the outcomes of these injuries could be improved. This study aimed to design an appropriate new health-care intervention for people with dementia following a fall and to assess the feasibility of its delivery in the UK NHS. OBJECTIVES To determine whether or not it is possible to design an intervention to improve outcomes of falls in dementia, to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of the DIFRID (Developing an Intervention for Fall related Injuries in Dementia) intervention and to investigate the feasibility of a future randomised controlled trial and the data collection tools needed to evaluate both the effectiveness and the cost-effectiveness of the DIFRID intervention. DESIGN This was a mixed-methods feasibility study. A systematic review (using Cochrane methodology) and realist review [using Realist And Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards (RAMESES) methodology] explored the existing evidence base and developed programme theories. Searches were carried out in November 2015 (updated in January 2018) for effectiveness studies and in August 2016 for economic studies. A prospective observational study identified service use via participant diary completion. Qualitative methods (semistructured interviews, focus groups and observation) were used to explore current practice, stakeholder perspectives of the health and social care needs of people with dementia following a fall, ideas for intervention and barriers to and facilitators of change. Each of the resulting data sets informed intervention development via Delphi consensus methods. Finally, a single-arm feasibility study with embedded process evaluation was conducted. SETTING This study was set in the community. PARTICIPANTS The participants were (1) people with dementia presenting with falls necessitating health-care attention in each setting (primary care, the community and secondary care) at three sites and their carers, (2) professionals delivering the intervention, who were responsible for training and supervision and who were members of the intervention team, (3) professionals responsible for approaching and recruiting participants and (4) carers of participants with dementia. INTERVENTIONS This was a complex multidisciplinary therapy intervention. Physiotherapists, occupational therapists and support workers delivered up to 22 sessions of tailored activities in the home or local area of the person with dementia over a period of 12 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES (1) Assessment of feasibility of study procedures; (2) assessment of the acceptability, feasibility and fidelity of intervention components; and (3) assessment of the suitability and acceptability of outcome measures for people with dementia and their carers (number of falls, quality of life, fear of falling, activities of daily living, goal-setting, health-care utilisation and carer burden). RESULTS A multidisciplinary intervention delivered in the homes of people with dementia was designed based on qualitative work, realist review and recommendations of the consensus panel. The intervention was delivered to 11 people with dementia. The study suggested that the intervention is both feasible and acceptable to stakeholders. A number of modifications were recommended to address some of the issues arising during feasibility testing. The measurement of outcome measures was successful. CONCLUSIONS The study has highlighted the feasibility of delivering a creative, tailored, individual approach to intervention for people with dementia following a fall. Although the intervention required greater investment of time than usual practice, many staff valued the opportunity to work more closely with people with dementia and their carers. We conclude that further research is now needed to refine this intervention in the context of a pilot randomised controlled trial. TRIAL REGISTRATION Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN41760734 and PROSPERO CRD42016029565. FUNDING This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 23, No. 59. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise M Allan
- University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Alison Wheatley
- Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Amy Smith
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, Stockton-on-Tees, UK
| | - Elizabeth Flynn
- Department of Physiotherapy, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Tara Homer
- Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Shannon Robalino
- Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Fiona R Beyer
- Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Christopher Fox
- Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Denise Howel
- Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Robert Barber
- Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Jim Anthony Connolly
- Department of Emergency Medicine, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Louise Robinson
- Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Steve Wayne Parry
- Falls and Syncope Service, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Lynn Rochester
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Lynne Corner
- VOICE, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Claire Bamford
- Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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