Modeling and evaluating evidence based continuing education in nursing home dementia care

This project addresses key issues of the Research Council of Norway's Research Program on Health and Care Services 2011-2015 focusing on improving quality of care in elderly with complex chronicle diseases, organization, management, prioritising and trans ition of evidence based high quality and effective care in nursing home residents with dementia. In order to improve nursing home care, not only do we need research on treatment interventions, but also research on implementation of new evidence based know ledge. This is an area of increasingly vital importance, as the body of evidence-based dementia care is growing, whereas guidelines and structures to implement the new knowledge is lacking in clinical practise. An overview of knowledge transaction and im plementation research, concluded that a solid knowledge base is lacking. A review conducted by the Norwegian Knowledge Center for the Health Services, found very few studies eligible to predict effect of education programs in end- of life- care in nursing homes. This study aims to model and carry out implementation of evidence based continuing education consisting of a combination of seminars and guidance based on an intervention developed for a recent Norwegian randomised, controlled trial and where the overall objective is to 1) Modeling implementation and using the collaboration structure of Nursing Teaching Homes and Regional Center for Care Research, West Norway and 2) Evaluating the modeling using a multi method design; process evaluation and a pre- post design evaluating quality of life and quality of care in nursing homes. In modelling transition of evidence based care from research to clinical practice in nursing home care, this study will contribute to valuable knowledge of this group of elderly and to the society, which can be immediately implemented to clinical practice. The project is multidisciplinary involving national and international experts on dementia care.