This doctoral study seeks to gain a holistic understanding of the Mental Health Service for Older Person’s advance care planning practice nationwide, and to identify ways of augmenting and improving decision-making practice with older persons living with dementia or with mental health challenges considering the newly commenced ADM legislation. To achieve this aim, a three-stage action research study, using a combination of quantitative, qualitative, and co-operative inquiry approaches is utilised.
University College Dublin (UCD)
A Systematic Review of the Public’s Knowledge and Understanding of Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia.
Project Aim(s): This paper reports findings from a systematic review of the literature on the general public’s knowledge and understanding of dementia/Alzheimer’s disease. The key purpose of the review was to evaluate existing literature with specific attention paid to conceptual and methodological issues and to key findings. Over a 20-year period, 40 published articles satisfied the inclusion criteria. Only 4 of these were qualitative and 5 were cross-national.
Project Aim(s): This national survey investigates the location, resourcing, staff composition, treatments, waiting time, and numbers of patients attending memory clinics (MCs) in the Republic of Ireland. It also explores Directors’ attitudes to future service development including their views about the advantages and disadvantages of quality standards for MCs.
Project Aim(s): To develop and promote resilience in family carers of people with dementia.
Project Aim(s):
The project has various complementary aims: (a) research on normal ageing and Alzheimer's disease using MRI-based methods, (b) develop training programmes in neuroimaging in dementia, (c) develop greater understanding of the use of neuroimaging by clinicians for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, (d) technology transfer between centres.
The aim is to evaluate the utility of a Connected Health model in supporting people with dementia and their carergivers in sustaining the patient at home. We propose that the CH model allows enhanced information- sharing between patient, carergiver and healthcare team, enabling streamlined clinical management, empowering the caregiver and enhancing the ability of the caregiver/patient dyad to cope.