Dementia Care Mapping as an Outcome Measure in Research
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Published: 2017
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ISBN-13: 9781526420978
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDementia care mapping was not designed as a research tool, but has been used as such for some time. Although there has been some criticism, researchers generally agree that it can be a good way of measuring well-being from the perspective of a person with dementia. In the Active Residents in Care Homes project, we used dementia care mapping to explore whether a holistic intervention increased the well-being of the residents in care homes. This case study reflects on the process, challenges, solutions, and lessons learnt while using dementia care mapping as a research tool to evaluate Active Residents in Care Homes. During the planning phase, we were aware that using dementia care mapping would have a number of challenges, so we tried to anticipate and incorporate ways to mitigate potential problems. In practice, we had to overcome anticipated challenges and more we had not considered. One of the main issues encountered was the emotional demand on the researchers using dementia care mapping as we experienced the continual dilemmas of balancing when we should provide support to residents at the expense of collecting data. Challenges aside, dementia care mapping gave a comprehensive view of life in a care home from the perspective of people with cognitive impairment that would have been difficult if not impossible with the use of other tools.