Background: This thesis aimed to evaluate the impact of DementiaGo’s Moving Moments project in Gwynedd Council’s residential homes. DementiaGo are supporting staff from eleven Gwynedd Council residential homes to promote physical activity and movement, to empower residents to move more as a sedentary lifestyle is very common in residential homes. By increasing physical movement of residents, the wellbeing and quality of life of residents is hoped to improve.
Methods: The research includes a review of systematic reviews on physical activity interventions for people living with dementia in residential homes, which summarises what is already known in the field and highlights the gaps in the literature. Further, the research includes a qualitative empirical study that consisted of exploring the impact of DementiaGo’s Moving Moments from the perspectives of residents, relatives and staff through 33 one-off semi-structured interviews and the researcher’s personal reflective pieces from various points along the research process. Data were analysed through hybrid thematic analysis as both inductive and deductive techniques were adopted to analyse the data. The epistemological stance of the thematic analysis was a realist method,
Results: Thematic analysis identified four themes; in the moment and beyond, personal impact on quality of life, barriers to overcome and moving forward. The findings demonstrate the positive impact the project Moving Moments is having on all staff and residents involved in the Moving Moments project, as well as some family members. Further, recommendations are offered for the future delivery of the Moving Moments project which DementiaGo have begun implementing including organising practical training on leading physical activity for staff.
Conclusion: The findings from the thesis are discussed, along with practical implications and limitations of the study. A major strength from the thesis is that the research has led to changes being already implemented based on the recommendations being reported to DementiaGo’s project manager across the year. The research supports that the programme could be implemented widely across Wales and beyond by other authorities as a demonstration of improving the wellbeing of residential home residents and confidence of care staff.