Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2014 Jul 12:15:284.
doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-15-284.

Improving Well-being and Health for People with Dementia (WHELD): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Rhiannon Whitaker, Jane Fossey  1 , Clive Ballard, Martin Orrell, Esme Moniz-Cook, Robert T Woods, Joanna Murray, Jane Stafford, Martin Knapp, Renee Romeo, Barbara Woodward Carlton, Ingelin Testad, Zunera Khan
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Improving Well-being and Health for People with Dementia (WHELD): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Rhiannon Whitaker et al. Trials. .

Abstract

Background: People with dementia living in care homes often have complex mental health problems, disabilities and social needs. Providing more comprehensive training for staff working in care home environments is a high national priority. It is important that this training is evidence based and delivers improvement for people with dementia residing in these environments. Well-being and Health for People with Dementia (WHELD) combines the most effective elements of existing approaches to develop a comprehensive but practical staff training intervention. This optimised intervention is based on a factorial study and qualitative evaluation, to combine: training on person-centred care, promoting person-centred activities and interactions, and providing care home staff and general practitioners with updated knowledge regarding the optimal use of psychotropic medications for persons with dementia in care homes.

Design: The trial will be a randomised controlled two-arm cluster single blind trial that will take place for nine months across 80 care homes in the United Kingdom.

Discussion: The overarching goal of this trial is to determine whether this optimised WHELD intervention is more effective in improving the quality of life and mental health than the usual care provided to people with dementia living in nursing homes. This study will be the largest and best powered randomised controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the benefits of an augmented person-centred care training intervention in care homes worldwide.

Trial registration: Current controlled trials ISRCTN62237498 Date registered: 5 September 2013.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Design and CONSORT diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flow chart of WHELD programme milestones.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Knapp M, Prince M, Albanese E, Banerjee S, Dhanasiri S, Fernandez J-L, Ferri C, McCrone P, Snell T, Stewart R. Dementia UK. London: Alzheimer’s Society; 2007.
    1. Ballard CG, Gauthier S, Cummings JL, Brodaty H, Grossberg GT, Robert P, Lyketsos CG. Management of agitation and aggression associated with Alzheimer disease. Nat Rev Neurol. 2009;5(5):245–255. - PubMed
    1. Corbett A, Smith J, Creese B, Ballard C. Treatment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Curr Treat Options Neurol. 2012;14(2):113–125. - PubMed
    1. Fossey J, Masson S, Stafford J, Lawrence V, Corbett A, Ballard C. The disconnect between evidence and practice: a systematic review of person-centred interventions and training manuals for care home staff working with people with dementia. Int J Psychiatr. 2014. - PubMed
    1. Testad I, Corbett A, Aarsland D, Lexow KO, Fossey J, Woods B, Ballard C. The value of personalized psychosocial interventions to address behavioral and psychological symptoms in people with dementia living in care home settings: a systematic review. Int Psychogeriatr. 2014;24:1–16. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Associated data