ENACT: Evaluating staff training and the implementation of the Mental Capacity Act in care homes for older adults

What is the project?

The Enhancing Implementation of the Mental Capacity Act study, or ENACT, is being led by the University of Sheffield and aims to improve how the Mental Capacity Act is put into practice and used in care homes.

It’ll do this by examining existing research and gathering data on how organisations use the Act when designing and running training for their staff, as well as how they put this training into practice.

The study will look at the impact this has on residents and relatives, and what they think works well and less well.

It’ll achieve these aims through four pieces of work: a review of the research done so far in this area, a national audit of training in care homes, case studies looking at care in care homes, and the co-production of best practice guidelines in workshops.

Why is it being carried out?

The Act was introduced in England and Wales to support people who have difficulties with their memory, communication or understanding to make important decisions. It’s important for staff working with care home residents who have dementia.

There are concerns that care home staff don’t always have a good understanding of the Act, meaning that they may not always have the skills or knowledge to appropriately support residents with dementia.

This study hopes to have an immediate impact for people living and working in care homes across England and Wales, identifying best practice for training staff.

It’ll produce recommendations and guidance for care homes. The hope is that this’ll lead to improvements in care for residents, and the relatives who support them.

The team behind the study will produce easy-read summaries of their key findings, as well as other resources such as infographics, posters or videos.

Where and when is the work taking place?

Care homes in all local authority areas in Wales are eligible to take part in this research.

Care homes can take part by emailing enact@sheffield.ac.uk.

The project started in October 2023 and will be completed in July 2026.

Who’s involved?

This project is being led by the University of Sheffield and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Social Care Wales sits on the project Stakeholder Research Group and is advising on the design and delivery of each work package.

The team behind the study hope that working with stakeholders across England and Wales, including decision makers and policy makers, will support the implementation of its findings.

What have they learnt so far?

The study is still in its early stages, but one of the challenges the team have faced has been making sure their surveys with care home staff are accessible and not a burden to complete.

To overcome this challenge, they’ve worked closely with care home managers and a lay advisory group - made up of members of the public with a vested interest in the research topic - to design the survey in a way that promotes accessibility and ease of use.