CQC Publishes Research On Good Practice For Dementia Care
The Quality Care Commission (CQC) has published a research report on good practice in health and social care services when caring for people living with a type of dementia.
As part of its dementia strategy, the CQC commissioned the research, which was carried out by IFF Research in partnership with Leeds Beckett University.
The report shows the findings of a review of good practice published by UK and worldwide universities and organisations in health and social care in supporting people with dementia.
The review also included 3 discussion groups with experts, other regulators of health and social care, and people with lived experience of dementia or caring for someone with dementia.
The report highlights areas of good practice that help ensure people have a good experience of care and show how this can be achieved. These include:
• care plans should be made together with people with dementia and their carers and families, not for them
• social interaction and structured, meaningful, and inclusive activities not only support wellbeing but also reduce symptoms of dementia
• opportunities to feel part of a community allowed people to continue exercising choice and control in their lives
• supporting people to keep doing things that were important to them in smaller-scale, homelike settings helped maintain a strong sense of ‘home’
• where possible, respecting people’s preferences to be supported by someone who can speak their first language and relate culturally helps maintain trust, identity, and a sense of belonging.
Alongside a CQC report last year on Health and social care support for people with dementia, the commission will use the findings from this research to develop its own dementia strategy, using conversations with people with lived experience, charities and support organisations, stakeholders with dementia expertise, and government – in line with the immediate recommendations on dementia made recently by the Casey Commission.
This work will include producing guidance for providers on how to best care for people with dementia throughout health and social care, which we will start to co-produce from autumn 2026.
