NIDUS-Family is a training and support intervention for home care workers caring for people living with dementia in their own homes. Created by a team of researchers at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health led by Professor Claudia Cooper, the programme focuses on practical changes people can make, and is focused on the specific priorities of the person with dementia. It is delivered in six sessions over three months, followed up by three monthly catch-up groups to support care workers in applying their learning in practice.
The programme has been cited as an example of best practice in a new report from the Alzheimer's Society, which is calling on the UK government to make dementia training mandatory for care workers. The 'Because we're human too' report, which is being presented to Parliament today, identifies why dementia training matters, how to deliver it, and spells out the savings that these additional interventions would bring by reducing emergency hospital admissions and GP appointments, and by helping people with dementia stay in their homes for longer.
Claudia Cooper, Professor of Psychological Medicine and Co-Lead for the Centre for Psychiatry and Mental Health, speaking about the training programme, said: "Because NIDUS-family can be delivered by people without clinical training, it has the potential to enable many more people to access good quality post-diagnostic support. NIDUS-Family is the first readily scalable intervention for people with dementia that is proven to improve attainment on personalised goals, and can be remotely delivered, and it should be implemented in health and care services."
Dara de Burca, Executive Director of Dementia Support and Partnerships at Alzheimer's Society, said: "We all want the best possible care for the people we love. Our research shows investing in dementia training reaps significant benefits and is cost-effective. It can reduce agitation in people with dementia, cut emergency hospital admissions and GP visits and the inappropriate use of antipsychotic drugs."
Visit the Alzheimer's Society website
