Co-designing a dementia-specific education and training program for home care workers: The 'Promoting Independence Through Quality Dementia Care at Home' project. (April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Goh, Anita MY; Doyle, Colleen; Gaffy, Ellen; Batchelor, Frances; Polacsek, Meg; Savvas, Steven; Malta, Sue; Ames, David; Winbolt, Margaret; Panayiotou, Anita; Loi, Samantha M; Cooper, Claudia; Livingston, Gill; Low, Lee-Fay; Fairhall, Anne; Burton, Jason; Dow, Briony
• Is Part Of: Dementia. Volume 21:Number 3(2022)
• Page Start: 899
• Page End: 917
• Publication Date: 2022-04
• Subjects: dementia -- family carer -- co-design -- training -- design process; Psychiatric social work -- Periodicals; Social work with older people -- Periodicals; Dementia -- Periodicals; 362.19683005
• DOI: 10.1177/14713012211065377
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1471-3012

Abstract

Undertaking co-design with the end users of services has rapidly evolved as the best-practice approach to program design, development and implementation. Increased interest in using participatory co-design in dementia care has drawn attention to the need for evidence-informed methods for facilitating the meaningful involvement of people with dementia and their family carers in co-design activities. The aim of this paper is to describe the co-design framework used in the co-design of a dementia specialist training program for home care workers. The Promoting Independence Through quality dementia Care at Home program is a successful example of co-design methodology used across multiple project stages and with various stakeholder groups, including people living with dementia, family carers, home care workers, managers and researchers. Co-design methods were tailored to each stage, purpose, and stakeholder group, and to facilitate the involvement of people living with dementia. Findings provide unique insights into optimising input from co-design partners, including people living with dementia; the methodology, conditions and requirements for participants to co-design and implement ideas; and perspectives on the enablers and challenges of using co-design in this population. In this paper, we present a comprehensive approach for involving people living with dementia as active and equal contributors in inclusive and meaningful participatory co-design.