NIHR Three Schools Dementia Research Programme: NIHR School for Social Care Research, NIHR School for Primary Care Research and NIHR School for Public Health Research

Team

• Lead investigator: Dr Cathy Murphy, Senior Research Fellow, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton  

• Co-i: Prof Mandy Fader, Professor of Continence Technology, School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton  

• Co-i: Prof Miriam Santer, Professor of Primary Care Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, NIHR School for Primary Care Research, Bournemouth based GP 

• Co-i: Dr Leanne Morrison, Lecturer in Health Psychology, School of Psychology & Primary Care Research Centre, University of Southampton, NIHR School for Primary Care Research 

• Co-i (PPI): Jane Ward, Alzheimer’s Society Research Network Member, co-founder of Dementia Friendly Hampshire, Patient Research Ambassador

• Co-i: Prof Jill Manthorpe, Professor of Social Work, Director of NIHR Policy Research Unit in Health & Social Care Workforce, King’s College London – Associate Director of NIHR School for Social Care Research
  

Start date: 1st June 2022

End date: 28th Feb 2024

We found that

Healthcare professionals wanted an easy and quick to use intervention to sign-post carers to continence care guidance.

Homecare workers would welcome resources aimed at having difficult continence conversations

The findings led us to develop the first evidence-based website to support healthcare professionals to provide continence advice to the carers of people living with dementia. The intervention also provides carers with detailed, practical self-management guidance.

The website is www.demcon.org.uk

A summary of the work can be found in this article: C Murphy, B Bradbury, M Fader, L Morrison, M Santer, J Ward, H Chester. Supporting continence care for people living at home with dementia. 22 APRIL, 2024. Nursing Times

What we did with the new knowledge

The findings have led to the first evidence-based intervention to support healthcare professionals to provide continence advice to the carers of people living with dementia.

The intervention supports healthcare professionals to initiate conversations and then to sign-post carers to detailed, evidence based self-management guidance.

The website can be accessed here: www.demcon.org.uk

What are we doing next?

The project has provided foundational findings for the next phase of work which includes developing a new intervention to support homecare workers to initiate continence conversations with people living at home with dementia.

This work (DemCon2) is being funded by NIHR Three School’s Dementia Research Programme and will start Autumn 2024.