FEATURE DEMENTIA SERVICES
been suspended . We decided to run the pilot online group with the same facilitators as with the face-to-face sessions – myself , the occupational therapist , and a technical instructor .
As we were experienced in delivering the group content , albeit in a different format , no training on the content would be required and we would be able to resume the service as quickly as possible .
The team felt that two facilitators would be necessary , in case of any technical problems , and also the person presenting the ‘ slide-show ’ would not necessarily be aware if participants were having any issues or wanted to make a comment .
Contact was made with the three clients and their family members ( the original six attendees from March ). Initially two accepted , bit the third did not have internet access .
It was planned for the new online group , called ‘ Managing changes with dementia ’, to start at the end of October . Unfortunately , a second client dropped out just before the group was about to start , saying they did not feel that online was for them .
We were left with just one client and family member . Rather than cancelling and delaying the start to organise a new group , we decided to go ahead with this on a one-to-one basis .
Having some initial pilot sessions with a client and their family member who we already knew was beneficial , both to us and the client , as we had the advantage of having already built up some rapport with them at the previous faceto-face sessions .
As they knew us well , they gave us feedback throughout , which was valuable for our future planning , and as this was positive it gave us the confidence to plan for the next groups to start .
The pilot sessions were completed by mid-January and on the final week the client and family member agreed to complete an evaluation on how they had found the sessions . They reported that they enjoyed the online sessions , that the support was very helpful , and that they felt lucky to have one-to-one sessions , as ‘ it might have been difficult with other participants talking at the same time ’.
They also commented : ‘ It would be awful with no service . We would have felt isolated , not knowing what to do .’
At time of writing *, we are now half-way through a second group , this time with two clients and their carers , and have plans for several further small groups , to be facilitated by other occupational therapists in the WAD team .
It is early days , but the feedback has been very positive . A few changes to the presentations have been made along the way and I have learned a lot about Microsoft Teams , which has been useful to pass on to colleagues running future groups .
There have been a few technical problems , with the sound and sometimes the video , but so far we have been able to resolve the issues encountered ourselves without the need for IT support .
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The time saved and flexibility also means we are able to offer smaller groups or one-to-one sessions for those clients who have to fit around work commitments , which previously would have meant they would not have been able to attend the faceto-face groups
The time saved and flexibility also means we are able to offer smaller groups or one-to-one sessions for those clients who have to fit around work commitments , which previously would have meant they would not have been able to attend the face-to-face groups . We don ’ t know what the future holds with the effects of the pandemic , but we have learned that having the flexibility to offer online sessions has been appreciated by our clients . They have commented that they have enjoyed having the routine of a weekly session during the lockdown and COVID-19 restrictions .
We hope that the group sessions will encourage them to develop routines of their own with some further support from us if needed .
While online is not suitable for everyone and there will always be a place for face-to-face interventions , having to adapt our groups because of the pandemic has shown us that we are still able to provide a service for our clients during these difficult times .
Reference
Dementia UK ( 2021 ) Young onset dementia . Available online at : www . dementiauk . org / understanding-dementia / typesand-symptoms / young-onset-dementia / [ accessed 21 October 2020 ]
Susan Mann , occupational therapist , Working Age Dementia Service , Underwood House , Highbury Hospital , Nottingham . * This article was written in February 2021
58 OTnews August 2021