DARES (DementiA Education Programme Incorporating REminiscence Therapy for Staff)

The aim of this research is to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a structured educational reminiscence programme for staff on levels of agitation exhibited by residents with dementia and on staff attitude towards residents with dementia and perceived care burden.

The DARES research programme involves: 

• Designing and delivering a dementia education programme, incorporating reminiscence therapy, to staff in long-stay residential units. Staff will be trained in the use of reminiscence therapy to develop a person-centred care plan for a resident with dementia.
  
• Testing the impact of this education programme on residents with dementia.  

The DARES programme will use a mixed method design, including a cluster randomised controlled trial, to test the impact of the education programme. The primary outcome is levels of agitation of residents with dementia, while secondary measures include resident quality of life, psychotropic medication use and staff attitude towards residents with dementia and perceived care burden.

DARES is a three-year project, funded by the Health Research Board (€300,000). 

Project Team

Prof. Eamon O’Shea (PI), Prof. Kathy Murphy, Dr. Dympna Casey, Dr. Shaun O’Keeffe, Prof. Murna Downes, Declan Devane, Ann Gallen, Mary Frances O’Reilly, Nora Irwin-O’Rourke, Michele Glacken, Marion Hanrahan, Athena McClean, Ruth McMenamin, Dr. John Newell, Prof. Agnes Shiel, Adeline Cooney, Andrew Hunter, Fionnuala Jordan.

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