Trial Review

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Trial registered on ANZCTR


Registration number
ACTRN12616001137482
Ethics application status
Approved
Date submitted
8/08/2016
Date registered
22/08/2016
Date last updated
22/08/2016
Type of registration
Prospectively registered

Titles & IDs
Public title
The impact of aged care resident’s written life-stories on aged care staff attitudes
Scientific title
The impact of aged care resident’s written life-stories on aged care staff attitudes
Secondary ID [1] 289954 0
None
Universal Trial Number (UTN)
U1111-1186-1177
Trial acronym
Linked study record

Health condition
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied:
Aged care staff attitudes assessed using the KRS measure. 299821 0
Condition category
Condition code
Mental Health 299745 299745 0 0
Studies of normal psychology, cognitive function and behaviour
Public Health 299838 299838 0 0
Health service research

Intervention/exposure
Study type
Interventional
Description of intervention(s) / exposure
This project examines the impact of aged care resident's written life stories on the attitudes of professional care staff. The project examines if care staff show a change in their attitudes and knowledge about a resident after reading a 2-4 page story written by university journalism students, about the resident. The story showcases an aspect of the resident’s life, such as important achievements, memorable experiences, valued relationships. Three sessions were held for 45-60 minute duration. The sessions were face-to-face one-on-one sessions between each resident and the journalism student. and occurred once per week over a 3-week period. The sessions provided information for the story to the journalism students.
Intervention code [1] 295555 0
Behaviour
Comparator / control treatment
The control group read resident's intake information. They do not read the resident's written life stories. Information that was contained in the 'intake information' included medical history, demographic information, life and social history.
Control group
Active

Outcomes
Primary outcome [1] 299201 0
Difference between the pre and post-test score on the Knowledge of Resident Scale. This scale was developed by Bhar, Silver, Collins, Bhowmik and Daziel (manuscript in preparation) to measure knowledge of staff about the residents.
Timepoint [1] 299201 0
Participants in each condition are tested twice (pre-test and post-test). Pre-tests are administered immediately before either reading the residents' stories (E) or reading file notes (C). Post-tests are administered immediately after reading the residents' stories (E) or reading file notes (C).
Primary outcome [2] 299266 0
Staff attitudes about the residents using the KRS (as above)
Timepoint [2] 299266 0
Participants in each condition are tested twice (pre-test and post-test). Pre-tests are administered immediately before either reading the residents' stories (E) or reading file notes (C). Post-tests are administered immediately after reading the residents' stories (E) or reading file notes (C).
Secondary outcome [1] 326552 0
None
Timepoint [1] 326552 0
None

Eligibility
Key inclusion criteria
Participants must be an employee of a residential aged care facility, provide care to residents of the facility, have a minimum grade 7 level of English, and be willing to provide informed consent for participating in the study.
Minimum age
18 Years
Maximum age
60 Years
Sex
Both males and females
Can healthy volunteers participate?
Yes
Key exclusion criteria
Level of English grade less than 7.

Study design
Purpose of the study
Educational / counselling / training
Allocation to intervention
Randomised controlled trial
Procedure for enrolling a subject and allocating the treatment (allocation concealment procedures)
Sealed opaque envelopes
Methods used to generate the sequence in which subjects will be randomised (sequence generation)
Simple randomisation using a randomisation table created by computer software
Masking / blinding
Who is / are masked / blinded?



Intervention assignment
Other design features
Phase
Type of endpoint/s
Statistical methods / analysis

Recruitment
Recruitment status
Not yet recruiting
Date of first participant enrolment
Anticipated
31/08/2016
Actual
Date of last participant enrolment
Anticipated
31/12/2016
Actual
Date of last data collection
Anticipated
Actual
Sample size
Target
40
Accrual to date
Final
Recruitment in Australia
Recruitment state(s)
VIC

Funding & Sponsors
Funding source category [1] 294248 0
University
Name [1] 294248 0
Swinburne University of Technology
Country [1] 294248 0
Australia
Primary sponsor type
Individual
Name
A/Prof Sunil Bhar
Address
Swinburne University of Technology
H99, PO BOX 218.
Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122.
Country
Australia
Secondary sponsor category [1] 293098 0
None
Name [1] 293098 0
Address [1] 293098 0
Country [1] 293098 0

Ethics approval
Ethics application status
Approved
Ethics committee name [1] 295672 0
Swinburne Human Research Ethics Committee (SUHREC)
Ethics committee address [1] 295672 0
John St, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Ethics committee country [1] 295672 0
Australia
Date submitted for ethics approval [1] 295672 0
Approval date [1] 295672 0
18/07/2016
Ethics approval number [1] 295672 0
SHR Project 2016/146

Summary
Brief summary
Thousands of older Australians live in aged care facilities (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2015). This living arrangement can result in a significant loss of a person’s sense of identity. Professional care staff may not know a resident well, nor appreciate the resident’s individuality.

Given the growing trend in Australian health care towards person-centred care in aged care settings, where care practices are tailored to individual needs, there is a need to develop effective methods for helping care staff better understand a resident, in order to promote the delivery of personalised care.

Life-stories are narratives about an individual that can communicate to the care staff, the values, and self-image favoured by the resident. Such stories focus on individuals’ achievements, accomplishments, and interests. Although there are several programs worldwide that allow for older adults in residential care to tell their story, no research has been done to examine the impact of such written stories on the attitudes of residential professional care staff.

The aims of this research is to examine the impact of life stories written by Swinburne Journalism students, on the attitudes of care staff about the residents. The project examines if care staff show a change in their attitudes, knowledge, and understanding about a resident after reading a 2-4 page story about the resident.

In this study such stories are investigated for their impact on attitudes, knowledge and understanding of professional care staff and if positive, it could impact on care practices, and hence be used more widely in Australia for fostering a person-centred care culture in such settings.
Trial website
Trial related presentations / publications
Public notes

Contacts
Principal investigator
Name 68082 0
Ms Michelle Dennerstein
Address 68082 0
Swinburne University of Technology
John St, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Country 68082 0
Australia
Phone 68082 0
+61 3 9214 8371.
Fax 68082 0
Email 68082 0
[email protected]
Contact person for public queries
Name 68083 0
Sunil Bhar
Address 68083 0
Swinburne University of Technology
John St, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Country 68083 0
Australia
Phone 68083 0
+61 3 9214 8371.
Fax 68083 0
Email 68083 0
[email protected]
Contact person for scientific queries
Name 68084 0
Sunil Bhar
Address 68084 0
Swinburne University of Technology
John St, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Country 68084 0
Australia
Phone 68084 0
+61 3 9214 8371.
Fax 68084 0
Email 68084 0
[email protected]

No information has been provided regarding IPD availability


What supporting documents are/will be available?

No Supporting Document Provided



Results publications and other study-related documents

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