PERFECTED: Caring for Patients With Hip-fracture & Memory Difficulties

This qualitative study is part of the 5-year long (2013-18) PERFECTED (Peri-operative Enhanced Recovery hip-fracture Care of paTiEnts with Dementia) National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded research programme. PERFECTED's overall aim is to develop and pilot an evidence-based intervention to improve the hospital care of patients living with dementia who have fractured their hip. The findings from this particular study will support PERFECTED's other activities by exploring stakeholder (lay and professional) views of the hospital care experiences of hip-fracture patients who are experiencing memory difficulties. Best practices and priorities, including attention to cost-consequences will be explored.

Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with 15-30 hip-fracture patients with mild memory difficulties recently discharged from acute hospitals in Norwich, Nottingham and Bradford. Equal attention will be given to those patients discharged directly home and those discharged to community hospitals for further rehabilitation. Interviews will be conducted with 15-30 recognised carers of hip-fracture patients with moderate/severe memory difficulties who have recently been discharged from acute hospitals in the same three regions. Semi-structured interviews will also be carried out with a nominated dementia lead in each region. Finally, in each region, small focus groups, face-to-face or telephone interviews will be conducted, with clinical staff of various grades and professions, hospital managers and with NHS commissioners. This study will enable a range of topics and perspectives to be explored and potential components for PERFECTED's intervention to be identified.

As part of PERFECTED's on-going commitment to Public Patient Involvement (PPI), lay researchers will be trained to assist in interviewing recognised carers of hip-fracture patients with moderate/severe memory difficulties. Interviews and focus groups will be recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically. Resulting data will address the pre-defined aims of the current study and feed into findings reported across the whole of Work Package 1 of PERFECTED.