Pain management for people living with dementia in Extra Care Housing

About the Project

Background

There is plenty of research and a large body of evidence that shows that, for older people living with dementia, pain assessment and management is suboptimal as compared to other older people with similar health conditions in hospitals, residential care, nursing care and in their own homes. However, there is no evidence relating to people living with dementia in Extra Care Housing (ECH).

If pain management is addressed in the right way in ECH then these residents are less likely to engage in activities and social interaction. Furthermore, the fact that ECH provides independent living may make pain assessment and management for residents living with dementia who require support with pain management more challenging and complicated.

This PhD project will build on a pilot survey of ECH schemes and care homes, conducted in 2022-2023 by the Housing and Dementia Research Consortium (HDRC)1, which found that pain support for people living with dementia in both settings is suboptimal, with a significant number of those dependent upon staff for pain management continuing to show or express pain. High numbers of ECH staff lacked in skills and confidence to support people living with dementia experiencing pain and there was little use of guidance or pain assessment tools. Suboptimal pain support for those living with dementia is unacceptable and all staff who are responsible for supporting the needs of a person with dementia need to be skilled within this area.

Aims and objectives

The main aim of this project is to compare pain assessment and management for residents living with dementia, who require support with pain management, with other residents (not living with dementia) in ECH. The objectives are to determine whether residents living with dementia in ECH settings are receiving suboptimal pain management compared to other residents with similar health conditions and compared to those living in care homes, the causes and impacts of this, staff needs and the challenges, successes and good practices.

Indicative research method

The successful PhD candidate will be responsible for formulating the detail of this project. However, it is anticipated that the study will adopt a qualitative approach involving selecting a small sample of extra care housing schemes and care homes as case studies sites, using interviews to understand pain assessment and management for residents living with dementia in more depth than was possible with the survey.

A project in this area will incur some additional costs that will be met by the student, for fieldwork and consultation with experts by experience. The exact costs will depend on the specific project and will be discussed both at interview and kept under review throughout the duration of the project.

Supervisory team:

• Director of Studies: Dr Julie Barrett, Association for Dementia Studies (ADS), School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Worcester
• Supervisors: Dr Mary O’Malley, Association for Dementia Studies, School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Worcester
• Research Centre: Association for Dementia Studies

Applications accepted all year round
Self-Funded PhD Students Only