Introduction

These free resources give you a taste of the ICE Dementia Framework in action. Each one is quick, practical, and designed to make an immediate difference in day-to-day care.
Use them to build empathy, support reflection, and strengthen your team’s approach to dementia care.

Resources by Topic

1. Building Empathy and Reflection

Help staff understand the resident’s perspective and support managers in reviewing current practice.

Dementia STAR Exercise

A 5-minute experiential activity that helps staff feel what it’s like to live with brain confusion. Use it in staff meetings or handovers to spark empathy and discussion.

ICE Resident Needs Map

When your staff member completes this training you will have a focused understanding of your resident's needs to keep them well and prevent the development of behaviours of concern/ BPSD

Staff Experiential Exercises

A short handout to help managers introduce empathy-building exercises in staff training sessions.

2. Supporting Personal Care

Reduce distress during personal care by identifying triggers and ensuring consistency across staff.

Personal Care Template – Understanding Unmet Needs

• Personal care is one of the most common times when residents experience distress.
  This template helps staff investigate possible unmet needs, agree on supportive approaches, and reduce distress during care.

One-Page Summary Table – Agreed Support Plan at a Glance

Once a support plan is agreed, this one-page summary keeps everyone on the same page.  It provides a quick reference for all staff, showing the resident’s needs and the strategies that work best.

3.  From Understanding to Evidence: Practical Resources for Dementia Care

These resources are designed to help nursing home managers and care teams move step by step from understanding risk, to evidence-based action, to clear documentation of good practice.

You do not need to use everything at once. Each resource supports a different stage of safer dementia care and antipsychotic review.

Risks of Antipsychotic Medication in Dementia – Research Evidence

This research paper summarises findings from large population studies examining the safety of antipsychotic medication in people with dementia.

The evidence shows that antipsychotic use in dementia is associated with increased risk of serious physical harm, including:

• Chest infections and pneumonia
  Increased risk, particularly soon after starting treatment, linked to sedation and swallowing difficulties.

• Stroke
  Higher rates of stroke compared with people with dementia not prescribed antipsychotics.

• Heart problems
  Including heart attack, heart failure, and heart rhythm disturbances.

• Blood clots
  Increased risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

• Falls and fractures
  Associated with sedation, slowed reactions, muscle stiffness, and reduced balance.

• Acute kidney injury
  Sudden worsening of kidney function requiring medical treatment or hospital admission.

Timing matters:
Some risks are highest shortly after antipsychotics are started, but risk continues for as long as the medication is prescribed. Long-term use does not make antipsychotics safer.

Link to Guidelines and Good Practice

These findings underpin national and international dementia care guidelines, which state that antipsychotics should:

• Be used only as a last resort

• Be prescribed at the lowest effective dose

• Be time-limited

• Be reviewed regularly

• Be used alongside non-drug, person-centred approaches

The evidence supports prioritising understanding behaviour as communication and addressing unmet needs (such as pain, fear, illness, or environmental stress) before medication is considered.

FITS Research – Evidence for Non-Drug Approaches

This paper summarises the FITS (Focused Intervention Training and Support) research, which shows that staff training and person-centred care can significantly reduce distress behaviours and antipsychotic use in nursing homes.

It provides evidence that improving understanding, communication, and daily care can reduce reliance on medication while maintaining resident well-being.

5-Minute Manager Audit – Antipsychotic Use

This short self-audit helps managers get a quick snapshot of antipsychotic use in their home on a single day.

It identifies residents suitable for review, highlights prescribing patterns, and provides a simple baseline before starting training or making care changes.

This audit is for reflection and improvement, not inspection.

A Simple Guide to the ICE Dementia Care Training

This guide explains how the ICE Framework (Investigate, Connect, Evaluate) structures the dementia care training across 10 modules.

The training is practice-focused throughout. Staff apply what they are learning to a real resident in their care — either to better understand behaviours linked to distress, or to prepare for safe review and reduction of antipsychotic medication where appropriate.

As the training progresses, staff gradually build and update a resident-specific well-being plan, ensuring learning is directly translated into day-to-day care.

The approach mirrors good dementia care practice, supports consistent team working, and ensures the training leads to real, observable change for residents.

The Evidence Binder – Turning Practice into Proof

The Evidence Binder shows how training, audits, well-being plans, and medication reviews are brought together into clear, inspection-ready documentation.

It provides a practical way to demonstrate that antipsychotics are reviewed, non-drug strategies are used first, and resident well-being is prioritised.

The binder turns everyday care into visible, defensible evidence of good practice.