Dr Rebecca O'Brien is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham. She has over 30 years experience working in the NHS and is currently a Clinical Specialist Speech & Language Therapist in mental health services for older people, specialising in dementia. Rebecca’s research involves using Conversation Analysis to unpack the interactional practices of healthcare professionals when interacting with people with dementia. She then uses these findings to develop and evaluate staff training, in order to improve the communication experiences of people living with dementia.
Kate Sartain cared for both her parents with dementia. She experienced them receiving both poor and high quality care in both community and hospital environments. She was informed that the high quality care they had received was on a research ward. Since then she has become a passionate and articulate supporter of research which seeks to improve care for those living with dementia and to improve the well-being of those who care for them, whether paid or unpaid. She has been involved as a co-applicant in the work presented here since the beginning of the first VOICE study in 2015.
Dr Rebecca O’Brien
Senior Research Fellow and Clinical Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
University of Nottingham/ Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Kate Sartain cared for both her parents with dementia. She experienced them receiving both poor and high quality care in both community and hospital environments. She was informed that the high quality care they had received was on a research ward. Since then she has become a passionate and articulate supporter of research which seeks to improve care for those living with dementia and to improve the well-being of those who care for them, whether paid or unpaid. She has been involved as a co-applicant in the work presented here since the beginning of the first VOICE study in 2015.
Summary
Hospital staff report receiving inadequate training in how best to support their patients living with dementia who show distressed behaviour. The VOICE studies have used analysis of video recordings of real hospital interactions between staff and patients living with dementia to identify what staff practices seem to work best to support communication and avoid or reduce distressed behaviour. Through a process of stakeholder engagement, these identified practices have been developed into training for acute hospital staff, which has evaluated positively. Workshop delegates will have an opportunity to experience the training face-to-face and to explore the new online resources. Delegates will be encouraged to offer feedback on whether the training would also apply to their own contexts beyond the hospital setting.
