Dementia Care

Vol 5 No 3 June/July 2016

Australian Journal of Dementia Care

he Dementia Training

Study Centres (DTSC) has

recently awarded a total of

$25,000 in scholarships to five

Australian university students

for new dementia research

projects.

The scholarship competition,

supported by the

Australian

Journal of Dementia Care (AJDC)

was open to undergraduate

students engaged in research to

improve the care of people with

dementia.

The winning students, who

each receive a $5000 scholarship

and a subscription to the

AJDC

are: Danielle Huynh (Bachelor

of Health Sciences/Master of

Occupational Therapy,

University of Western Sydney);

Marila Kozdra (Bachelor of

Speech and Language

Pathology, Honours, Charles

Sturt University); MandyMa

(Bachelor of Psychology,

Honours, University of

Adelaide); Angelica Milanes

(Industrial Design, RMIT

University); and Cheryl Toth

(Bachelor of Health

Science/Master of Occupational

Therapy, University of Western

Sydney).

The following are summaries

of their research projects:

Danielle Huynh:

Strategies in

providing assistance

in daily tasks by

informal family caregivers for

people living with dementia

I am investigating the level of

assistance provided in relation

toActivities of Daily Living

(ADL) and Instrumental

Activities of Daily Living

(IADL) and difficulties

experienced for people in the

different stages of dementia,

along with how this may relate

to family caregivers’ perceived

burden. The caregivers will also

be asked for the strategies they

use to provide assistance and

the perceived effectiveness of

the strategies.

This knowledge will be used

to develop effective strategies

for family caregivers.

Such programs will be

specific and address the needs

of caregivers with family

members in the different stages

of dementia. To my knowledge,

this study is the first to address

caregiving in maintaining daily

activities for people with

dementia.

Marila Kozdra:

Social

communication in

dementia care

settings – barriers, facilitators

and opportunities for change

Boughtwood

et al

(2011) have

identified the need for more

research on dementia care in

Culturally and Linguistically

Diverse (CALD) services,

particularly into what factors

facilitate or represent barriers to

communication in multilingual

environments.

I am conducting a qualitative

study using ethnographic

methodology to identify the

barriers and facilitators to

communication in different

communal spaces within a

Victorian multicultural aged

care and dementia facility.

The study seeks to

understand how these

environments influence

patterns of everyday interaction

for individuals with dementia,

staff, families and the local

community. Attention will then

be given to the ways in which

the predominantly bilingual

staff use their language skills to

support CALD residents’

participation in social

interactions and activities

within a smaller selection of

social/communal spaces.

Apotential outcome is the

development of a template for

promoting positive social

interactions in CALD dementia

units, supporting families and

staff to keep the communication

gateways open for all CALD

residents.

MandyMa:

Ameta-

analytic review of the

psychosocial

outcomes among

caregivers of dementia, with a

focus on the positive

dimensions: psychological

health and well-being in

caregivers of dementia

Research on caregiving has

highlighted the negative impact

of the role on well-being,

particularly with respect to

increased depression, burden,

stress, poor quality of life and

physical health problems

(Pinquart & Sörensen 2003).

Recent research, however, has

begun exploring positive

experiences and gains

associated with the role,

highlighting caregiver

satisfaction, role meaning,

helping attitudes, quality of life,

gratitude, and relationship

closeness. This project will

provide a quantitative synthesis

of the empirical literature on

psychosocial and adjustment

outcomes of caregivers of

people with dementia,

examining both negative and

positive outcomes in this

caregiver group.

We anticipate the results will

provide a strong evidence base

for the development of positive

applications in this area,

facilitating interventions for

caregivers that improve their

self-efficacy and positive

outcomes, thereby empowering

them to carry out their role in

ways that are not detrimental to

their well-being, and that

improve the care of individuals

with dementia.

AngelicaMilanes:

Auser-centred

approach to

integrated care for

early and mid stages of

dementia

The project aims to create an

effective service system enabling

integrated care for people in the

early andmid stages of

dementia, to increase the

person’s quality of life. Focusing

onAlzheimer’s disease, the

service will allowpeople with

dementia, their family, clinicians

and caregivers to collaborate in

managing key aspects of living

with the condition.

The ‘customisable’, flexible

and user-friendly service will

act as a hub for stakeholders to

find and access suitable services

in the community and a

platform to manage and

communicate essential aspects

of care-related information.

Users and stakeholders will

create a personalised profile of

the person with dementia that

will allow access to community

support andmeaningful and

interesting activities to meet the

person’s mental, social, physical

and spiritual needs.

Cheryl Toth:

Relationship between

IADL tasks and

cognitive function for

older adults over the age of 65

withMild Cognitive

Impairments (MCI) and mild-

moderate dementia

Understanding the relationship

between cognitive function and

IADLwill allow rehabilitation

professionals to determine and

anticipate future functional

decline in people withMCI and

dementia based on the change

in cognitive ability.

This study will be conducted

in three parts. Part 1 will consist

of 30 occupational therapists, 30

healthy older adults, 30 older

adults withMCI and 30 older

adults with mild-moderate

dementia participating in a

survey to determine 15 of the

most frequently performed

IADLneeded to live in the

community independently.

Part 2 will determine the

demands of the cognitive

domains in the 15 most

important IADL tasks identified

in Part 1. Part 3 will explore the

perceived functional

performance in the 15 IADL

tasks using an adaptation of the

Functional Independence

Measure (FIM) (Keith

et al

1987)

and the performance of six

cognitive measures in 20 older

healthy adults, 20 older adults

withMCI and 20 older adults

with mild andmoderate

dementia.

The findings are anticipated

to assist rehabilitation

professionals in designing

interventions tailored for the

changes in cognitive function

and daily task performance.

The study can therefore

potentially assist individuals

with MCI and dementia to

continue living in the

community independently or

with minimal assistance.

$25,000 for student research to improve care

N E W S