Evaluating the Impact of Intergenerational Activities on Care Homes

The Centre for Innovative Ageing at Swansea University is conducting research that aims to compare outcomes of intergenerational and non-intergenerational activity via questionnaires, surveys and interviews, in order to explore the impact activities have on those working in, residing in and visiting care homes.  The benefits of taking part are:

  • Assessing whether current activities are stimulating for everyone;
  • Identify ways to best use resources to maximize positive experiences and outcomes;
  • Active involvement in research and development for residents, staff, friends and family;
  • Providing feedback on best practice for implementation of meaningful activities;
  • Establishing links with the wider community.

For further information contact Kate Howson:

email - k.e.howson@swansea.ac.uk; phone – 07930240425.

Adding Value to Life in a Care Setting through Intergenerational Practice

Dr Catrin Hedd Jones 

The Development of an Indoor Environmental Assessment Tool for People with Mild to Moderate Dementia Living in Nursing Homes, Residential Homes, Sheltered Housing and Extra Care Housing

Verity Walters, Swansea University

The key aim of this study is to develop and test a tool that could potentially improve indoor living environments for those in the mild to moderate stages of dementia across a range of residential settings (sheltered housing, extra care housing, residential homes and nursing homes).  It will enable users to assess the suitability of the living environment for those with dementia, but could also be used in the development of new facilities for those with dementia.

The literature review shows a link between indoor living environment and maintenance of autonomy and independence in a safe setting.  The research has four phases:

  1. A literature review.
  2. Use of literature review to inform development of data collection tool for the focus group.
  3. The qualitative development of the scale through focus groups and interviews.
  4. The testing of the scale involving cognitive interviews with stakeholders.

There will be a focus group and a cognitive interview in each of the four settings:

  1. Sheltered housing.
  2. Extra care housing.
  3. Residential homes.
  4. Nursing homes.

In addition, one to one interviews with professionals such as care home managers and housing association managers will be carried out.  The aim is to recruit 36 participants in all, 8 from each setting.  These will include a mix of 7 participants with dementia and their carers and 1 professional in each setting.

Verity Walters: 448072@swansea.ac.uk

"A Person Like Me" Research: Human Rights for People Living with Dementia in Care Homes

Lesley Butcher, Cardiff University

This research project involves exploring how we can better uphold the human rights of those living with dementia in care homes.   The first part of the study involves a stakeholder event in November 2019, which derived themes from a number of focus groups.  Based on these, a bespoke e-learning package for care home staff will be trialled.  Half the care homes will receive face to face "human rights in dementia care" teaching and the other half will receive e-learning, and the two types of learning will be compared.  At the end of the study, both types of learning will be available to all those who take part in the study.

The study will inform a larger campaign entitled "A Person Like Me", which aims to enable staff to recognise that there are more similarities than differences in people.  It hopes to eliminate the "them and us" which can sometimes become part of the culture in some care homes.  There will be a website for this and care homes in Wales can sign up to online discussions, read blogs and download posters, videos and other educational resources.

For further information contact Lesley Butcher: butcherl3@swansea.ac.uk

Understanding and Improving the Mental Well-being of Older Adults in Residential Care

Caitlin Reid, Swansea University

Older adults' mental well-being is often overlooked, even though many stressors and triggers of mental health issues are experienced in later life, such as the loss of family and friends through bereavement and also the loss of ability, self-esteem and independence.  There has been limited research into the experiences and perspectives of older adults in residential care (Milne, 2010). One of the main findings from the Older People's Commissioner for Wales report "A Place to Call Home" (2014) was that there was a risk that older adults become institutionalised in residential care.  Being in this kind of environment would have a significant impact on an individual's mental health and well-being.

The purpose of the study is to develop a better understanding of mental well-being in older adults living in residential care in South Wales, and to explore ways to maintain, improve and promote it.

Methodology: A mixed methods research design was developed.  The first, quantative, stage used the Mental Health Continuum Short Form to measure the mental well-being of older audlts living in care homes (141 residents from 22 care homes completed it).  The results from the first stage were then used to inform and develop the interview questions for the second, qualitative, stage of the study. 20 residents from 6 care homes were recruited to take part in semi-structured interviews, which have been transcribed and will be analysed using thematic analysis.

The preliminary findings are:

  • The majority of participants were women (71%)
  • The mean age of participants was 86
  • Participants scored lower on questions about society, responsibilities and meaningful experiences
  • The MHC-SF categorises participants as "Languishing", "Moderately mentally healthy" or "Flourishing"
  • Participants categorised as "languishing" had a lower mean age (77)
  • Participant mean age for the "moderately mentally healthy category" and the "flourishing" category was 87.

'YEARNING' - WELSH SPEAKERS IN CARE

At a national level in Wales there is a clear commitment to securing equal status for the Welsh and English languages in social and health care services and Welsh Govenrment has introduced a number of strategic and legislative requirements to achieve this.  Despite these developments, there exists a mismatch between the policy agenda and practice, with evidence indicating a failure by social and health care providers to adequately implement these national initiatives.

These challenges are compounded by a paucity of research on the provision, receipt and quality of Welsh language social care services in Wales. The limited research that exists reveals a lack of language awareness among practitioners and service users do not routinely have their linguistic needs taken into account, which is detrimental to the quality of care and service users' wellbeing (Roberts, 2007).  The proposed study will:

  1. Examine the extent, nature and quality of Welsh language social care provision in Wales.
  2. Explore the opportunities and barriers to Welsh language social care provision in Wales.
  3. Examine the outcome and impact that current service provision and gaps in service provision have on the wellbeing of the public and practitioners.
  4. Make recommendations to social policy in Wales and beyond and co-produce a practical toolkit to inform practice to address some of the issues identified by this research.

A key strength of this proposed study is that its development and content has taken a "bottom up" approach, being led and informed by the views and experiences of the public and practitioners (the potential student is a practitioner) who have indicated a definite need for this research.  Their involvement in every stage of the study will maximise their sense of ownership and buy-in to the study, which will have positive implications for securing the right and sustainable solutions to the issues identified.

PhD student: Angharad Higgins