This study is part of a larger project across the island of Ireland looking at whether or not it is more beneficial to a person with dementia if carers and health professionals adopt alternatives strategies to correcting when they ask questions or make statements that are false. The larger study is in two phases: phase 1 involves a comprehensive review of the literature focusing on approaches to truth telling in relation to people with dementia.
Phase 2 (Part 1) will involve the use of focus group interviews with carers and people with dementia/memory problems exploring their perceptions of the most useful strategies to use when a person is experiencing memory loss and cognitive decline.
Phase 2 (part 2) is the aspect of the project to which this application relates. It involves a three round Delphi survey seeking to achieve consensus on the most beneficial approach to take with people with dementia when they ask questions or make statements that are false. The Delphi involves progressive rounds of survey construction to a panel of experts, subsequent analysis and iterative revision until predefined criteria for consensus are reached.
Following completion of all phases post analysis data integration will be carried out to determine key findings across the data sets so that similarities and differences in data sets can be identified. Results will be used to inform future care practices.