Talking Mats to support involvement in choice and decision-making around home care services for older people living with mild to moderate dementia

In the last decade, Swedish eldercare has been characterized by increased individualisation and consumer choice.

The goals are to give older people the opportunity of increased influence and individualized support but also to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of services. Sweden has an ageing population and people with dementia often have their needs met in their own homes.

The Social Services Act states that eldercare should aim at strengthening older people’s ability to live an independent life, in dignity and with well-being .

Although few would question the importance of influence and individualised support, research has shown that older people with extensive and complex needs, such as dementia, may be at risk of being excluded from the same opportunities as more privileged groups of eldercare recipients.

Care managers and home care staff  have to handle both the choice of services and providers as well as the more detailed design of the home care services without developed working methods that support the possibility of informed choices for people with dementia or other cognitive difficulties. The need for some form of decision aid in these situations has therefore been raised.

So-called TalkinMats have in previous studies in the UK been shown to promote influence in decision-making for people with dementia.

Within the framework of this study, our aim is therefore to evaluate the effect of TalkingMats as decision aid in needs assessment and planning home care services for people with mild to moderate dementia.

The study is designed as a two-armed RCT study, where the effectiveness and implementation of TalkingMats are evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively, in collaboration between eldercare in four municipalities in the Sjuhärad region, the Department of Social Work at the University of Gothenburg, the University college of Borås and R & D Sjuhärad Welfare.