In 2014, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Taith Ltd discussed the development of a Dementia Care Pathway for the wards provided by the health boards Older Person’s Mental Health Services across North Wales. The result of this was a series of Appreciative Inquiry workshops to explore how this could be done in a meaningful and inclusive way. The AI exercise resulted in ‘Care to Talk’, a process that values the importance of honesty, openness and relationship building.
Outcomes were measured as part of an ongoing family/carer satisfaction monitoring programme that had commenced six months before ‘Care to Talk’ was introduced and used the 1000 Lives dementia carer questionnaire (NHS Wales, 2010). It is rare that longer term impact studies are carried out in relation to AI interventions and this work underlines the potential that AI has in terms of tangible impact and sustainability.
All this was then written up and published by the highly respected Sage Journal ‘Dementia – the International Journal of Social Research and Practice’. Click here for more details.
