Is there an ‘optimal’ time for people living with dementia to move to a care home?

Kritika Samsi, Research Fellow at the NIHR Health & Social Care Workforce Research Unit, introduces the findings from the optimal time study, which she led. (629 words)

Funded by the NIHR School for Social Care Research, this 3-year study investigated what (if any) may be an optimal time for people living with dementia to move to a care home.

A literature review, qualitative interviews and a factorial survey were conducted over the course of 3 years to reveal a complexity of findings around what may be seen as an ‘optimal’ time for a care home move. We found that the ‘right time’ for any move was highly individual, contextual and depended on myriad factors other than symptom severity. These include the wellbeing of the person living with dementia, family members’ ability to support them and the type and availability of care home places.

To read the rest of this blog and review the findings visit: https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/socialcareworkforce/2019/10/08/is-there-an-optimal-time-for-people-living-with-dementia-to-move-to-a-care-home/