- Researchers say a program in the United Kingdom is providing support for people with dementia as well as their caregivers.
- The program, known as NIDUS-Family, sets goals and expectations in households for people with dementia.
- Among the tenets is assessing what a person with dementia as well as their caregiver want and need.
Researchers in the United Kingdom are reimagining care for people with dementia, utilizing a framework that could expand access and improve outcomes and quality of life for individuals and caregivers alike.
The framework, known as NIDUS-Family (an acronym for “new interventions for independence in dementia”), is being investigated through ongoing randomized controlled clinical trials.
The
A pillar of the program’s approach is personalized goal setting, which affects both the caregiver and the individual with dementia.
These goals can range from deciding on an appropriate bedtimes or days that a caregiver can go out with friends.
During the trial, researchers investigated goal setting and attainment through a system known as “goal attainment scaling” (GAS).
Additionally, they also looked at serious outcomes, such as whether an individual with dementia was moved to a care facility or died during the trial.
The researchers reported that patients who received care according to the NIDUS-Family framework were more likely to meet these positive outcomes than those in a control group that didn’t receive such care.
“What we have here is a treatment that everybody living with dementia who has a family carer can access and it makes a difference,” said Dr. Claudia Cooper, a professor of psychological medicine at Queen Mary University of London and the lead author of the study.
“[With] this treatment, which can be delivered by many people, you don’t need clinical training, just some supervision can be delivered in eight hours over Zoom or even the…
Read the full article here