Background and Aims
Most people living with dementia experience difficulties in communicating their needs. Maintaining a conversation can positively impact the behavioural responses and emotional wellbeing of a person with dementia. However, communication techniques to enable positive interactions with people living with dementia are different to those used in the general population. Communication and interaction-based training are known to empower carers to maintain positive relationships with people with dementia. Dementia Australia, in collaboration with Deakin University developed the Talk with Ted training tool, which involves an avatar that is a digital representation of a person living with dementia. Communication with Ted provides immediate feedback to the trainee on how best to have a conversation with a person living with dementia. In this project Talk with Ted was trialled as a training tool to assist carers in understanding the impact that a conversation can have on a person with dementia compared to the standard Communicating in a Person-Centred Way online training offered by Dementia Australia. The project was designed to address the following questions:
- Can ‘Ted’ promote professional care staff members’ understanding of the impact of positive communication on a person living with dementia?
- Can interaction with ‘Ted’ influence professional care staff members’ communication with a person living with dementia?
- What are professional care staff members’ perceptions of the feasibility of using ‘Ted’ for training in the residential aged care setting?
- What are professional care staff members’ perceptions of the feasibility of the ‘Talk with Ted’ training implementation process?
What We Did
We used surveys, staff training, observations, and interviews to evaluate the impact of Talk with Ted on the communication style, knowledge, and practice of carers working with people with dementia, compared to standard Communicating in a Person-Centred Way online training.
- We partnered with two organisations, and randomly allocated one aged care facility from each organisation to receive either the Talk with Ted avatar training or the standard Communicating in a Person-Centred Way online training.
- We surveyed professional carers (aged care workers, lifestyle officers, nurses and allied health professionals) employed at each participating facility (on their previous experiences of training and education in dementia care (n=202).
- We then conducted training with the professional carers – either the Talk with Ted training (n=100) or the Communicating in a Person-Centred Way online training (n=100) We observed professional carers (n=98) during their interactions with Ted (the digital avatar) at the beginning and the end of the Talk with Ted training.
- After completion of the training, we surveyed the professional carers (n=192) to gain feedback on their experience of the training they had undertaken.
- We surveyed Talk with Ted participants (n=96) to explore their experiences during and after their interactions with Ted, the digital avatar.
- After a minimum of 8 weeks, we interviewed a sample of professional carers (n=35) who had completed either training style to explore their perceptions and experiences of the training and any influence the training had on their practice.
Outcomes
Study findings indicate that experiential learning to improve communication and relationship building using the Talk with Ted training was rated as superior to participation in standard online training in terms of user experience and was more likely to be associated with sustained changes in communication style in clinical practice.
Impact on Aged Care and Workforce
Use of the Talk with Ted dementia training program improves the communication skills and confidence of carers working with people living with dementia and appears to be more effective and sustained in effect than standard Communicating in a Person-Centred Way online training.
We have a broader understanding of:
- How communication with a person with dementia requires specific knowledge and skills and different to communicating with other population groups, and regular training to address the unique needs of the person with dementia is imperative, particularly for novice carers.
- How Talk with Ted provided participants with a novel opportunity to evaluate their current communication style, as interaction with Ted enabled real-time reflection upon communication style, empathy, rapport and relationship-building skills.
Next Steps
The findings will be reported in publications and presentations.
