New database helps improve dementia care

is an established approach to achieving and embedding person-centred care for people with dementia. It prepares staff to take the perspective of the person with dementia in assessing the quality of the care they provide and empowers staff teams to engage in evidence-based critical reflection in order to improve the quality of care for people living with dementia.

The process which was developed at the University, has been used for the last 20 years in formal care settings to measure and improve the quality of person-centred dementia care.

The DCM Database is a secure, web application designed to simplify and enhance recording, analysis, storage and report generation of high-quality DCM data. It can be used by both individuals and organisations to analyse, report on and compare their DCM data securely. It will enable DCM data to be used to its full potential on a local, national, and ultimately international scale.

Professor Murna Downs, Chair in Dementia Studies at the University of Bradford, said: “It’s terrific to see DCM go digital. DCM is recognised internationally as a powerful agent for change. Digital DCM will be much easier to use in a care sector increasingly required to adopt person-centred approaches to care.”

The database is free to use for all mappers and organisations based inside the UK.

The School of Dementia Studies at the University of Bradford has trained over 4,000 people in Dementia Care Mapping, has over 200 part time distance learning students, been awarded more than £2.5m in research funding in the last year and has partnerships with over 12 organisations internationally.