New EU-funded research is under way at IT Sligo into the plight of people with dementia who require acute care for an additional medical illness or serious injury.
The aim of the research is to devise service solutions that would enable them to remain for longer at home with care and support rather than hospitalisation being the first option.
Acute care is where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition or during recovery from surgery.
The Border, Midland and Western Regional Assembly (BMW) and the Centre for Design Innovation (CDI) at IT Sligo have launched the two-year pilot study which also involves partners in Belgium, France and Wales.
Initial anecdotal evidence points to a need for access to a co-ordinated system of information and advice on issues that include medication and care-management and other personal matters such as patient independence and “sense of self”.
According to Dr Linzi Ryan, the CDI’s Lead Researcher in the project, although research is still at an early stage a picture is emerging of a communications gap and some individuals and care-givers “feeling lost”.
The “Designing Services for Alzheimer’s Disease” (DSA) project has a steering committee of health care specialists and members of official agencies, professional and voluntary bodies involved in healthcare and Alzheimer’s and dementia issues.
The BMW Regional Assembly, based in Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon, is a regional development agency charged with managing an EU-funded programme of €454m and developing regional initiatives to improve to socio-economic position of the region and improving the delivery of public services. It is managing the DSA project, which is funded under the North West INTERREG Programme and is part of the transnational SPIDER initiative.
Following a competitive tender, the project was awarded to the CDI. Dr Ryan is Ireland’s only holder of a PhD in Product and Service Innovation, which she was awarded at IT Sligo last year. She is from Crumlin in Dublin.
Officially launching the project, Professor Terri Scott, President of IT Sligo, said: “This project is in an area that involves one of the most significant health challenges facing the country in the coming years. Achieving INTERREG funding is an indication of the international standing of the Institute and its partners, in collaboration with the BMW Regional Assembly. We look forward to the significant contribution that the research will make.”
BMW Director, Mr Gerry Finn said: “This important project is focused upon improving the lives of those suffering from Alzheimer’s by extending their capability to live independently through re-design of the current service delivery model. We are delighted to be associated with the Centre for Design Innovation at IT Sligo and leading this innovative approach to providing solutions and better service delivery.”
The launch event was chaired by Dr John Bartlett, Head of Research at IT Sligo and the other speakers included Mrs Helen Rochford-Brennan, Acting Chair of National Dementia Working Group.
The DSA initiative is under way against a backdrop of various factors:
- Hospital-stay marks a critical moment for people with dementia, often with a risk of them becoming “institutionalised”.
- Research elsewhere suggests hospital-stay acute care for people with dementia carries a disproportionately high mortality rate.
- It also suggests some people would not have to be admitted to hospital at all for their particular primary illness, were it not for the accompanying dementia.
- The rising cost of health services is increasing the importance of identifying the factors in admission to acute care and appropriate alternative management systems.
Dr Ryan said: “We are trying to identify a gap that exists by talking to people with dementia, to care givers and health professionals, including hospital staffs who are working under immense pressures.
“We want to hear people’s personal stories so that we can then design how to make current processes as user-centred as possible and make the quality of life better for everybody involved better.”
Launch of the DSA research project: IT Sligo President, Professor Terri Scott and lead researcher, Dr Linzi Ryan with ( from left) Dr David Tormey, Dr John Bartlett, Mr Gerry Finn, BMW Director, and Mrs Helen Rochford-Brennan, Acting Chair of National Dementia Working Group.
Dr Linzi Ryan gives a presentation on her research at the launch of the Designing Services for Alzheimer’s Disease project.