There is a plethora of literature on person-centred care and its importance in health care. The principles of person-centred care are especially important for people living with dementia because of the clinical manifestations of the disease. This article intends to provide nurses with an overview of the work of Tom Kitwood and how it pertains to providing best practice in dementia care. Various person-centred theories have been developed. However, Kitwood’s work is by far the most widely referred to in dementia care. An understanding of Kitwood’s ideas, in particular those of malignant social psychology and positive person work, enables nurses to develop competence in delivering optimum person-centred care to people with dementia in clinical practice.

Improving the workplace requires staff to be involved and innovations to be maintained. Gary Mitchell discusses the theories that can help achieve this Planned change in nursing practice is necessary for a wide range of reasons, but it can be challenging to implement. Understanding and using a change theory framework can help managers or other change agents to increase the likelihood of success. This article considers three change theories and discusses how one in particular can be used in practice.

Background: Influenza is a serious global healthcare issue that is associated with between 290,000 to 650,000 deaths annually. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of a ‘serious game’ about influenza, on nursing student attitude, knowledge and uptake of the influenza vaccination. Methods: 1306 undergraduate nursing students were invited, via email, to play an online game about influenza between September 2018 and March 2019. 430 nursing students accessed the game and completed an 8-item questionnaire measuring their attitudes to influenza between September 2018 and March 2019. In April 2019, 356 nursing students from this sample completed a follow-up 2-item questionnaire about their uptake of the influenza vaccination. A larger separate 40-item knowledge questionnaire was completed by a year one cohort of 124 nursing students in August 2018 prior to receiving access to the game and then after access to the game had ended, in April 2019. This sample was selected to determine the extent to which the game improved knowledge about influenza amongst a homogenous group. Results: In the year preceding this study, 36.7% of the sample received an influenza vaccination. This increased to 47.8% after accessing to the game. Nursing students reported perceived improvements in their knowledge, intention to get the vaccination and intention to recommend the vaccination to their patients after playing the game. Nursing students who completed the 40-item pre- and post-knowledge questionnaire scored an average of 68.6% before receiving access to the game and 85.2% after. Using Paired T-Tests statistical analysis, it was determined that this 16.6% increase was highly statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The research highlights that the influenza game can improve knowledge and intention to become vaccinated. This study suggests that improvement in influenza knowledge is likely to encourage more nursing students to receive the influenza vaccination.

Fourteen people attending an adult day programme were recruited to a structured horticultural therapy programme which took place over 10 weeks. The effects were assessed using Dementia Care Mapping and questionnaires completed by family carers. High levels of wellbeing were observed while the participants were engaged in horticultural therapy, and these were sustained once the programme was completed. This study adds to the growing evidence on the benefits of horticultural therapy for people with dementia who have enjoyed gardening in the past.

Over the next 15 years, the number of people with dementia in the UK will increase significantly. There are clear limitations associated with the sole use of pharmacological interventions to address the cognitive decline and related problems that people with dementia and their carers will experience. As a result, health professionals, including nurses, need to consider the development and use of nonpharmacological therapies to help resolve the distress and decline in social function that people with dementia can experience. The use of doll therapy in dementia care appears to be increasing, even though there is limited empirical evidence to support its use and therapeutic effectiveness. It is suggested by advocates of doll therapy that its use can alleviate distress and promote comfort in some people with dementia. Despite these encouraging claims, the theoretical basis for the use of doll therapy in dementia is poorly understood and morally questionable. The purpose of this article is to provide healthcare professionals with a succinct overview of the theory behind the therapeutic use of dolls for people with dementia, a presentation and appraisal of the available empirical evidence and an appreciation of the potential ethical dilemmas that are involved.