Project Summary
Neuroscience Research Australia in partnership with HammondCare has been awarded an ARIIA grant for their project ‘Developing and implementing a strategy for reablement uptake for community-dwelling people living with dementia’.
One in 10 Australians aged 65 or over have dementia, a leading cause of progressive disability. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety recommends ‘enabling interventions’ such as occupational therapy and exercise to support ability to do everyday activities.
People living with dementia want access, but these interventions are not being offered in usual dementia care. This research seeks to understand how to overcome barriers to successfully delivering enabling interventions within the real-world setting of community aged care service providers, using sustainable Commonwealth funding sources.
In parallel, the project aims to explore whether meaningful outcomes can be achieved for people living with dementia participating in enabling interventions. We are in the process of exploring current practice for when community-dwelling people with dementia are referred for everyday living support.
Outcomes will inform the proposed research: we will seek national input around how to deliver these enabling interventions within community aged care services, to draft a nationally relevant implementation strategy. We will then progress to an implementation phase where we will test the new strategy and explore program outcomes for people with dementia. Outcomes have potential to improve the national landscape of services offered to Australians living with dementia.
Project Outcomes
Background and Aims
One in 10 Australians aged 65 or over have dementia, a leading cause of progressive disability. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety recommended ‘enabling interventions’ such as occupational therapy and exercise to support ability to do everyday activities. People living with dementia want access, but these interventions are not being offered in usual dementia care. The aim of this research was to understand how to overcome barriers to successfully delivering enabling interventions within the real-world setting of community aged care service providers, using sustainable Commonwealth funding sources.
What We Did
During this project, we sought national input around how to deliver enabling interventions for people living with dementia within community aged care services. Representatives from the community aged care sector across Australia participated in a two-round survey to identify barriers and supports to delivering enabling interventions, and to identify a range of strategies that could be used to promote implementation of enabling interventions. Participants included people living with dementia, family/friends of a person with dementia, allied health professionals, experts and thought leaders, researchers and academics, and a program manager or referrer. Outcomes from this national survey were used to draft a nationally relevant implementation guide. We then progressed to an implementation phase, which is currently ongoing, where we are testing the new guide and exploring enabling intervention outcomes for people living with dementia.
Outcomes
Outcomes from the national survey were used to draft a nationally relevant implementation guide. This guide is currently being tested in real-world community aged care settings via an ongoing pilot study. The outcomes from the pilot study will be used to update the implementation guide. The final version of the guide will be made freely available alongside the original reablement in dementia resources: www.hammond.com.au/reablement It is hoped that this guide will support community aged care providers to prepare for and deliver enabling interventions for Australians living with dementia. Through this, outcomes have potential to improve the national landscape of services offered to Australians living with dementia.
Impact on Aged Care and Workforce
This project has identified a range of barriers and supports to people living with dementia having access to enabling interventions. The implementation guide that was developed through this project specifically addresses the identified barriers and supports to help the aged care workforce to prepare for delivery of enabling interventions for people living with dementia. The strategies within the guide extend beyond just the service provider, and consider the broader aged care environment, from the client, families, allied health professionals and aged care team, to referrers and diagnosticians. Once the final version of this guide is freely available, it has potential to impact on aged care, by supporting more community aged care providers to offer and deliver enabling interventions for people living with dementia.
Resources Developed
An implementation guide has been drafted and is currently being tested. The final version of the guide will be made freely available alongside the original reablement in dementia resources: https://www.hammond.com.au/resource-hub?topic=reablement.
Next Steps
The team intends on continuing this work by seeking funding to support the specific needs of traditionally underrepresented populations and to contribute further evidence around the benefits of enabling interventions for people living with dementia.
Key contact for further information:
Neuroscience Research Australia and School of Psychology, University of New South Wales