Share your experience as a dementia family carer to help improve support

06/07/2023

Experts are calling for people providing care for a family member living with dementia to share their experiences to improve training resources to support them. 

Tracey Williamson, Consultant Nurse for Dementia at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, and Honorary Professor at University of Worcester, is co-leading a project called Crossing the Line with the Association for Dementia Studies at the University, and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). 

The project is focusing on understanding family carers’ experiences of providing personal care for someone living with dementia, to gain a better understanding around the challenges they face in providing personal care. 

Professor Williamson said: “Family carers that support people with dementia have reported that the issue of personal care is very important to them, though research has shown that little is known about it in the context of dementia and family care. We will develop training resources on personal care giving for use by dementia family carers and those who support them. 

“Personal care can include a variety of different activities such as helping with going to the toilet, washing, bathing, dressing, mouth-care, shaving, haircare, foot and nail-care. 

“We would very much appreciate dementia family carers completing the survey to share your experiences of providing personal care. All responses will be anonymous, meaning you will not be identifiable.” 

Participants will need to meet both of the following criteria: 

·       You are a current or previous family carer of a person with dementia. 

·       You have direct experience of providing personal care to a person with dementia in the past ten years. 

If you’re interested in the survey please read the information sheet here first, and complete the survey online here. 

The survey can be sent out by post if you would prefer a paper copy, and they are available in English and Welsh – please email Pauline Finlay, Research Associate for Crossing the Line, via p.finlay@worc.ac.uk, to request a copy or for more details. 
 
Arrangements can also be made for the survey to be carried out verbally by phone or on Zoom, and it would be audio recorded. 
 
To find out more about the project visit the website here.