Deconditioning in hospitalised patients with dementia
What are we trying to do?
The overall aim is to understand how to prevent (or treat) deconditioning and functional decline in hospitalised patients living with dementia, to allow a faster discharge to the home environment.
Why is it important?
We know that patients with dementia are particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes of hospitalisation and have longer lengths of stay, but more research is needed to understand what factors influence these outcomes and what can be done to address this.
Deconditioning is a complex physiological process due to inactivity that can result in decline across many areas including strength, functional ability (ability to carry out activities of daily living), and cognition. It is common in hospitalised patients.
National campaigns, such as end PJ paralysis, have raised awareness of this, but there is no standardised approach taken across different hospitals or wards.
We need evidence around what can work well in this setting specifically for people living with dementia.
How are we doing it?
This research, involves the following:
- A systematic review to examine evidence of physical activity interventions for hospitalised patients with dementia. The protocol is registered here.
- A quantitative study to understand the impact that increased ward moves/changes have on people with dementia, as part of this we are examining the associations of the number of ward changes on a) length of stay, b) discharge destination, and c) mortality.
- A qualitative study, involving interviews with a) patients with dementia, b) their caregivers, and c) healthcare professionals, to understand their experiences of hospitalisation and deconditioning.
Funding:
This is one of four ARC-GM research projects that ARC-GM funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Alzheimer's Society Building Capacity in Dementia Research Programme.
This funding is intended to support the new generation of dementia research leaders, bringing together researchers from different multidisciplinary backgrounds to encourage cross-cutting and community-orientated dementia research projects that can address key gaps in the evidence base.
More information about all of the ARC-GM research projects, and Dementia Fellows, funded as part of the Building Capacity in Dementia Programme, can be found from the ARC-GM Dem Com section of the NIHR ARC-GM website.
Who are we working with?
More information
Programme Manager
Gill Rizzello
gill.rizzello@manchester.ac.uk