McCormick Resource Centre
What is McCormick Mobile?
McCormick Dementia Services has partnered with Western University to assess the impact of a new form of dementia care partner education. McCormick Mobile is a pilot research project involving an intensive training program that occurs in the care partner’s home, with support from the McCormick Mobile interdisciplinary team. The program involves personalized dementia care education on the following topics: communication strategies, simplified personal care, behavioural interventions and meaningful activities. This is all done with the care partner and the person whom they are caring for, which allows the team member to meet the individual needs of participants.
McCormick Mobile Pilot Design Features
- Mobile was co-designed with care partners, Western University researchers, and McCormick Dementia Services
- Adult learning principles were considered
- Resources were created specifically for McCormick Mobile, including:
- An interactive and printed Workbook
- Goal setting pages
- Short videos demonstrating intervention techniques
The Pilot Research Involved:
- Ten clients and their primary care partners in their own homes
- Five whose person attends McCormick Dementia Services adult day program (ADP)
- Five whose person is on the waitlist to join the ADP
- Pre and post research measurements, including evaluating:
- Client’s Functional Abilities
- Client’s Perceived Communication Skills
- Caregiving Self-Efficacy
- Caregiving Benefit
- Social Isolation
- Caregiver Burden
- Caregiver Competence
- Personal Mastery Scale
- Memory and Behaviour Problems Checklist
- Depression
- Demographic Questions
Following pre-research questions, the six-week in home intervention commenced.
Six weeks of standardized education content, individualized to the care partner’s needs, provided in-home (Tuesdays) with follow up phone call (Thursdays)
- Week 1 – Social Work assessment
- Week 2 – Social Work intervention (communication strategies, working with behaviours)
- Week 3 – Registered Practical Nurse (medications, delirium training)
- Week 4 – Personal Support Worker (assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), safe transfers, daily routines)
- Week 5 – Recreation Specialist (adapting activities, how to engage in activities)
- Week 6 – Social Work wrap up meeting (self-care strategies, future supports)
Mobile interdisciplinary team members were responsive for formal and informal assessments, resource creation, documentation, journaling learnings and reflections, and weekly team meetings.
Status Report
- The pilot intervention is complete
- Western University researchers are analyzing and interpreting the data
- Results will be made available on our website when they are available
Testimonials and Feedback
“The response to McCormick Mobile has been exceedingly positive with care partners expressing appreciation for the one to one support and education they’ve received. Interacting with people in their home environments has provided the opportunity for an additional level of specialized services and a way to build ongoing connections. A win-win for all!” – Mobile Team Member
“With the success of McCormick Mobile, I hope to see the model continue to progress. By using the pilot project as a framework to develop other creative ways to meet individual needs and personalize supports, I believe we can include more families in the process. The value of interdisciplinary collaboration cannot be understated and will continue to be an avenue for McCormick Dementia Services to lead the way forward in our community and journey together.” – Mobile Team Member
“I think they’ve (Mobile team members) been excellent, I think all the different areas, the different folks that visited. You know the social worker, the recreational therapist, the nurse, all provided different insight. I lot of it I knew, from reading and attending different sorts of support groups. They did provide some different information, which was helpful.” – Mobile Participant
“I think it’s good (the training in our own home), I think it’s much more easier to communicate from your home and have somebody coming in and see what’s going on and having that person there with you and having the person get a feel for what the situation is. Being able to ask questions, have somebody there to be able to see what you’re dealing with. So I think it’s really good, I think it’s a good program.” –Mobile Participant
Next Steps
- Long term goals:
- Demonstrate this as a successful means of providing care partners the tools to keep their person safe at home as long as possible
- Demonstrate the strength of interdisciplinary teams providing education
- Reduce Alternate Level of Care (ALC), prevent individuals from attending the Emergendy Department (ED) unnecessarily
- Receive permanent funding
- Partner with other organizations to have them implement this care partner education in their own community
Care Partner Education Video Series
Short, informative videos to help educate care partners.
A Special Thanks
Complete funding for McCormick Mobile was made possible through generous support of the McCormick Care Foundation.
Thank you to the Western University researchers participating in the project, including:
Dr. Marie Savundranayagam
Dr. Anne Garnett
To find out more information about future of McCormick Mobile – connect with research@mccormickcare.ca