Other Knowledge Translation and Exchange Activities by the Rural Dementia Care Team

 

Exploring Incident Reporting by Continuing Care Assistants – Allison Cammer
Previous research conducted by members of the research team found that care aides experience a disproportionate amount of physical assault compared to other professions, mainly during direct personal care activities. Allison Cammer presented the keynote address Experience of Physical Aggression in Long Term Care at the June 2010 Continuing Care Assistant Conference at the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) campus in Saskatoon. Following the keynote presentation participants had the opportunity to participate in research focus groups aimed at learning more about incident reporting among Saskatchewan-based care aides. The discussions examined what reporting processes are currently in use, which are most useful, how they are best used within the workplace, and how they can be improved.

Drawing on the expertise and guidance of knowledge users to direct research projects. On the RDC Team Research Projects page there are three projects that have benefitted from the involvement of stakeholders: Caring for a Rural Family Member with Dementia, Dementia Diagnosis and Management, and Development and Evaluation of a Telehealth-Delivered Exercise Intervention. The lead researcher for each of these three projects has had the opportunity to work with the attendees of the 2009 and 2010 Annual Summits of the Knowledge Network in Rural and Remote Care to solicit feedback on planning and conducting the research projects. In an informal group setting the study leads were able to request input into their study design from members of the Network in 2009. In 2010 the study leads returned and met informally with members of the Network to share with them the work to date on the project and to collect input for the 'next steps' of the research. These three projects illustrate a collaborative knowledge exchange process between the researchers and people in the field ("knowledge users").

 

Members of the neuropsychological team at the Rural and Remote Memory Clinic have been working in partnership with members of the Home Care staff at the Keewatin Yatthé Regional Health Authority to develop the Northern Cultural Assessment of Memory (N-CAM), a cognitive screening protocol that is appropriate for Aboriginal seniors. A training workshop in Île à la Crosse in July, 2010 prepared the members of the Home Care Service at KYRHA for the pilot-testing phase of the N-CAM. An integrated knowledge exchange partnership between Keewatin Yatthé Regional Health Authority staff and researchers at the University of Saskatchewan fosters continuing research with the N-CAM. The team is working to ensure acceptability and ease of performance by healthy Aboriginal seniors without formal education or exposure to urban culture, and to establish the sensitivity of the N-CAM to cognitive impairment and early-stage dementia.