More than just reducing falls – how ‘decaf by default’ improves sleep and reduces distress in care home settings

Inspired by promising results from a previous study by Care England in collaboration with the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS and Stow Healthcare, Cornerstone Healthcare embarked on its own exploration into the impact of caffeine reduction on sleep quality, distress, 1:1, and continence among residents with complex needs. Collaborating with Care England to deliver the findings in Benefits of Decaffeination in Care Home Settings: Improving Sleep, Reducing Distress, 1:1 Support, and Challenging Behaviours.

Commenting on the launch of the report, Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, stated: 

“This initiative underscores the profound impact that thoughtful adjustments can have on the well-being of residents of older ages. The evidence of improved sleep patterns, reduced distress, 1:1 support, and challenging behaviours highlights the importance of innovative approaches in supporting care home residents.  

Ultimately, the success of this trial is a powerful reminder that even small, simple changes can lead to very profound impacts in care. I commend Cornerstone Healthcare for their commitment to quality care and encourage all services to consider adopting similar strategies to enhance the quality of life for their residents, and hence foster better care outcomes.” 

Since the full implementation of the “decaf by default” policy at Cornerstone, falls across the service have remained below the two-year average, even with 94% of residents assessed as high or very high risk for falls. Excitingly, reported cases of pressure injuries have also remained below the service’s two-year average, indicating a protective effect on skin integrity. One resident, noted to be a big coffee drinker from staff, decreased their number of challenging behaviours per month from 677 to 50, after switching to decaf. 

Dara Ní Ghadhra, Chief Operating Officer at Cornerstone Healthcare said: 

“Whilst nothing is exactly linear in our sector, looking holistically at the lives of those for whom we care, can lead to some surprising results.  We at Cornerstone Healthcare Group felt this when we heard of the compelling research presented by the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust through Care England into Decaffeinated drinks, we wondered if there were potential benefits for our residents with complex needs to improve various health markers.  The results as outlined in the paper were very interesting, and while we are not suggesting decaffeinated drinks are a panacea, it certainly contributed to a very positive reduction in challenging behaviours and significantly improved sleep patterns.  

The main aim of effective use of data in our sector is about improving patient outcomes. This doesn’t always mean making sweeping changes to processes or approaches. More often, intelligent data analysis allows us to make multiple smaller, targeted, intuitive changes, which collectively are hugely impactful because they’re based on real insight. If we want to make sustained improvements to the overall quality of care then data collection and analysis really is key into all aspects of the residents’ life, not just the obvious” 

To read the full report, and find out how you can switch to decaf, click here