SENSE-Cog Residential Care hopes to improve quality of life for residents with dementia living in residential care by supporting hearing and vision function.

Many people with Dementia living in supported residential care homes have significant hearing and/or vision impairment. Often unrecognised and unaddressed, poor sensory function can worsen the quality of life for Residents with Dementia by making communication more difficult and increasing confusion.  

Taking this together, by addressing sensory function through staff skills training, systemic pathways, and correcting the local environment, in addition to correction of the sensory deficit, we may be able to significantly improve quality of life and other key outcomes for Residents with Dementia.

Work Package 1: Develop the SENSE-Cog Sensory Support Intervention through consultation with professional and lay stakeholders​, guided by the Sensory-cognitive model of place. ​

Theoretical Framework: Sensory-cognitive model of place ​(4 components)

(1) resident level: personalised sensory profiling (i.e., screening, assessment, device fitting and adherence support)​

(2) staff level: awareness raising and training in sensory-cognitive healthcare​

(3) environment level: mapping and correcting the local environment for sensory challenges​

(4) organisational level: ensuring seamless referral pathways to community professional hearing and vision care providers.

Work Package 2: Study with a Trial (SWAT), a nation-wide survey to scope capacity and capability for applied dementia research in Irish nursing homes and establish what is care as usual within this setting. 

Work Package 3: Develop, and feasibility test a health economic model evaluating cost-effectiveness of the SSI.

Work Package 4: Test the feasibility of the intervention in a 6-month pilot cluster randomised trial; approximately 10 nursing homes​ randomized (1:1), intervention vs Care as Usual (CAU)​

SENSE-Cog Residential Care has received funding from the Health Research Board Dublin (HRB) under grant agreement N°DIFA-2020-007