Dementia in Residential Care: Education
Intervention Trial
The underlying idea of DIRECT is that the quality of care given to residents with dementia affects their quality of life. While quality of life is a subjective concept, we all intuitively know that it measures one of the most important areas of a person's health. Therefore, we wish to test the idea that if education is delivered to those who care for people with dementia, then it will have a positive impact on the happiness and satisfaction that residents feel.
The other basic premise of DIRECT is that those who deliver the care are the experts, not the researchers. The DIRECT team wishes to facilitate a process of asking General Practitioners and Residential Aged Care Facility staff what they most want education on - because they know best. We are also developing the program in consultation with an expert reference group, to help us give shape to the responses we receive.
Lastly, we think the major innovation of the education package that will result from this process of asking staff what they want in their program will be not in content, but delivery. We have seen lots of resources for education about dementia care - Guidelines for Practice, workshops, etc - but we all know how hard it is to translate theory into practice. We anticipate that what the clinical carers will want is not new information, but easier access to information that is already out there.
You can help! If you are a General Practitioner, Residential Aged Care Facility staff member, caregiver, or a person living with dementia, we invite you to contact us about being involved in this large scale project, the first of its kind in Australia.
Further information
Additional information on the trial is available as a downloadable Powerpoint Presentation [ 
PPT 0.4MB ]. If you are interested in the individuals conducting the research, or the members of the Steering Committee, we have a page dedicated to the people involved in DIRECT. We have also compiled details appropriate to each of the main groups involved in the trial, and encourage you to read through the links below relevant to your situation.
MP3 4.1MB ]