Department of Social Work, University of Gothenburg, PO Box 720, SE 405 30, Göteborg, Sweden.
Department of Work Life and Social Welfare, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden.
BMC Geriatr. 2023 Apr 21;23(1):244. doi: 10.1186/s12877-023-03956-5.
In Sweden, 72% of people with dementia live in ordinary housing. Of these, 50% receive home care services. Older people with dementia may benefit from developments in decision-making support which aim to facilitate their ability to communicate their personal needs and preferences with care managers and staff in home care services. In this study, we will test and evaluate the use of TalkingMats in Swedish municipal home care services for older people with mild to moderate dementia. TalkingMats is a low-technology communication tool, to help people with communication difficulties express their views. It uses a simple system of picture symbols which are placed on a textured mat. This study will provide insight into the extent to which TalkingMats benefits older people with dementia to feel more involved in decisions related to home care services. In addition, this study will assess the extent to which the use of TalkingMats promotes service providers' efforts to involve service recipients in decision making. The implementation of TalkingMats in home care services will also be studied.
A parallel group, two-armed randomized controlled trial design in which TalkingMats and Usual Conversation Method will be compared. Two specific situations where older people with dementia must make decisions about home care services will be studied. First, a follow-up needs-assessment conversation between study participants and care managers will be studied. Second, a conversation between participants and home care staff regarding the delivery of the decided home care services will be studied. In addition, a qualitative approach will be used to gain an understanding of study participant and service provider experiences of the impact and implementation of TalkingMats.
The combined exploratory, descriptive, and experimental study design is considered an important strength which will facilitate multi-facetted knowledge production concerning the involvement and communication needs of older people with dementia generally and within the context of home care services specifically. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods will maximize our ability to assess the effects of TalkingMats.
ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05561998 . Registered in September 28, 2022.
在瑞典，72%的痴呆症患者居住在普通住房中。其中，50%接受家庭护理服务。患有痴呆症的老年人可能会受益于决策支持的发展，这旨在促进他们与家庭护理服务中的护理经理和工作人员沟通个人需求和偏好的能力。在这项研究中，我们将测试和评估 TalkingMats 在瑞典市立家庭护理服务中对轻度至中度痴呆症老年人的使用。TalkingMats 是一种低技术通信工具，可帮助有沟通困难的人表达自己的观点。它使用简单的图片符号系统，这些符号放置在纹理垫上。这项研究将深入了解 TalkingMats 使痴呆症老年人在多大程度上更积极地参与与家庭护理服务相关的决策。此外，这项研究还将评估 TalkingMats 在多大程度上促进服务提供者努力让服务接受者参与决策。还将研究 TalkingMats 在家庭护理服务中的实施情况。
一项平行组、双臂随机对照试验设计，将 TalkingMats 和常规对话方法进行比较。将研究患有痴呆症的老年人必须就家庭护理服务做出决策的两种具体情况。首先，研究参与者和护理经理之间的后续需求评估对话将进行研究。其次，参与者与家庭护理人员之间关于所决定的家庭护理服务交付的对话将进行研究。此外，还将采用定性方法来了解研究参与者和服务提供者对 TalkingMats 的影响和实施的体验。
结合探索性、描述性和实验性研究设计被认为是一个重要的优势，这将有助于多方面地产生关于痴呆症老年人的参与和沟通需求的知识，一般来说，以及在家庭护理服务方面的具体需求。结合定性和定量方法将最大限度地提高我们评估 TalkingMats 效果的能力。
ClinicalTrials.gov 标识符：NCT05561998。于 2022 年 9 月 28 日注册。
