Evaluation of IMproving Palliative Care Education and Training Using Simulation in Dementia (IMPETUS-D) a Staff Simulation Training Intervention to Improve Palliative Care of People with Advanced Dementia Living in Nursing Homes: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

Background: Access to palliative and end-of-life care for people with dementia living in nursing homes is suboptimal. Nursing home staff require training in palliative care for dementia to equip them with knowledge and skills to deliver high quality care. ObjectiveThe primary aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of a simulation training intervention (IMPETUS-D) aimed at nursing home staff on reducing unplanned transfers to hospital and/or deaths in hospital among residents living with dementia.Design Cluster randomised controlled trial of nursing homes with process evaluation conducted alongside.Subjects & setting1304 people with dementia living in 24 nursing homes (12 intervention/12 control) in three Australian cities, their families and direct care staff. MethodsRandomisation was conducted at the level of the nursing home (cluster). The allocation sequence was generated by an independent statistician using a computer-generated allocation sequence.Staff from intervention nursing homes had access to the IMPETUS-D training intervention, and staff from control nursing homes had access to usual training opportunities. The predicted primary outcome measure was a 20% reduction in the proportion of people with dementia who had an unplanned transfer to hospital and/or death in hospital at 6-months follow-up in the intervention nursing homes compared to the control nursing homes. ResultsAt 6-months follow-up, 128 (21.1%) people with dementia from the intervention group had an unplanned transfer or death in hospital compared to 132 (19.0%) residents from the control group; odds ratio 1.14 (95% CI, 0.82-1.59). There were suboptimal levels of staff participation in the training intervention and several barriers to participation identified. ConclusionThis study of a palliative dementia care staff training intervention found no difference in the proportion of residents with dementia who had an unplanned hospital transfer. Implementation of the intervention was challenging and likely did not achieve adequate staff coverage to improve staff practice or resident outcomes.Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12618002012257. Registered 14/12/2018.