Learning from the ‘Crossing the line’ Project

The Association for Dementia Studies, University of Worcester, was granted 18-month funding by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to conduct the research study Crossing the line.  The aim of the study was to gain a deep understanding of the experiences of family carers relating to their provision of care to people living with dementia and hear their often-hidden voice.

Family carers often face challenges adapting to the role that providing personal care brings, and this can be worsened by lack of knowledge and skills, information, guilt and embarrassment.

The challenges around personal care are often a tipping point for the person living with dementia to move into a care home. Personal care includes helping with going to the toilet, washing, bathing, eating & drinking, dressing, mouth-care, shaving, haircare and foot and nail-care.

The findings from this study enabled the development of accessible, co-produced educational resources for family carers supporting someone living with dementia with their personal care routines. These resources include a website, films with family carers and a series of 15 booklets covering a wide range of topics.

Links

You can access the website here: https://caringhelp.on.worc.ac.uk/

You can download the 15 booklets here: https://caringhelp.on.worc.ac.uk/index.php/booklets/

You can find information on specific topics around personal care here: https://caringhelp.on.worc.ac.uk/index.php/a-z-of-topics/