Sharing the diagnosis of dementia in the post-Covid clinic: patient and practitioner perspectives

随着COVID-19大流行，大多数记忆诊所转向远程咨询（通过电话或视频通话），以继续满足患者的需求，同时最大限度地降低任何人接触病毒的风险。然而，对于如何远程提供痴呆症诊断以及痴呆症患者如何经历这一过程，目前还缺乏明确的认识。本研究的目的是通过探索情绪影响、实际影响和伦理考虑，了解在COVID-19期间提供和接受痴呆症诊断的经历。该项目将由研究人员和一小群痴呆症患者及其护理伙伴（最多8人）共同制作。在研究的每个阶段都会咨询这个小组。自服务转向远程工作（2020年3月）以来，大约30名最近在记忆诊所就诊的患者将接受采访，以及类似数量的一直在提供诊断的专业人员。这些访谈将与上述小组一起进行分析，以确定反复出现的主题。然后，这些主题将用于通知在线国家论坛。这次在线讨论和访谈的结果将用于为决策者制定一份简报文件，并为临床医生制定一份关于如何最好地提供远程痴呆症诊断的指南。其他产出将包括让公众参与的播客和发表在开放获取、同行评议期刊上的学术论文。

With the COVID-19 pandemic, most memory clinics switched to remote consultations (by telephone or video-call) to continue to meet the needs of patients while minimising the risk of anyone becoming exposed to the virus. However, there is a significant lack of clarity around how a dementia diagnosis should be delivered remotely and how the person with dementia experiences this process. The aim of this research is to understand experiences of delivering and receiving a dementia diagnosis during COVID-19 through the exploration of emotional impact, practical impact, and ethical considerations. This project will be co-produced by the researchers and a small group of people living with dementia and their care partners (up to eight people). This group will be consulted at each stage of the research. About 30 people who have recently been patients at memory clinics since services shifted to remote working (in March 2020) will be interviewed as well as a similar number of professionals who have been delivering diagnoses. These interviews will be analysed with the group mentioned above to identify recurring themes. These themes will then be used to inform an online national forum. Findings from both this online discussion and the interviews will be used to develop a briefing document for policymakers and a guideline for clinicians about how best to deliver a remote dementia diagnosis. Additional outputs will include podcasts to engage the public and academic papers in open access, peer-reviewed journals.