scholarly journals 153Implementing Digital Life Story Work for People with Dementia: The Relevance of Context to User Experience

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (Suppl_3) ◽  
pp. iii1-iii12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura O’Philbin ◽  
Bob Woods ◽  
Kathy Barham ◽  
Gill Windle
Dementia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Gridley ◽  
Yvonne Birks ◽  
Gillian Parker

Introduction Despite growing international interest in life story work as a tool for person-centred dementia care, there is little agreement on what constitutes good practice and little evidence from the perspectives of people with dementia or their family carers. Design and methods This paper reports the findings from the qualitative element of a larger study looking at the feasibility of evaluating life story work. Ten focus groups were held with 73 participants: four groups of people with dementia (25 participants); three with family carers (21 participants); and three with staff, professionals and volunteers with experience of life story work (27 participants). Findings: It became apparent through our focus groups that, when people talk about ‘life story work’, different people mean different things. This related to both process and outcomes. In particular, a person with dementia may have very different views from others about what life story work is for and how their life story products should be used. There was general agreement that a good practice approach would be tailored to the individual needs and preferences of the person with dementia. However, in practice many settings used templates and the process was led by staff or completed by family carers. Conclusion We produced nine key features of good practice which could be used to guide the life story work process. Key elements include the recognition that not everyone will want to take part in life story work and that some people may even find it distressing; the importance of being led by the person with dementia themselves; the need for training and support for staff, carers and volunteers; and the potential for life story work to celebrate the person’s life today and look to the future.


Author(s):  
John Keady ◽  
Mike Nolan

Dementia is a global issue experienced on an individual and relational level. This chapter traces the emergence of both person-centred care and relationship-centred care, with the latter approach expressed through the Senses Framework. The Framework outlines the theoretical development and practical application of the Senses [security, belonging, continuity, purpose, achievement, significance] and highlights the importance of staff, carer, and [in this chapter] person with dementia all working together. This chapter describes the application of the Senses Framework to a recent practice development study set in a care home for people with dementia and shows how the study used a combination of the Senses and life story work to create an ‘enriched’ environment. The chapter concludes with a discussion about how the Senses can be used to facilitate an early diagnosis of dementia and to help people with dementia and their families to engage with a life ‘outside the front door’, termed ‘The Neighbourhood Space’.


Dementia ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane McKeown ◽  
Tony Ryan ◽  
Christine Ingleton ◽  
Amanda Clarke

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane McKeown ◽  
Amanda Clarke ◽  
Christine Ingleton ◽  
Tony Ryan ◽  
Julie Repper

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 262-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alys Young ◽  
Emma Ferguson-Coleman ◽  
John Keady

AbstractAlthough life-story work is an established form of support for people with dementia and their carers, culturally Deaf people who are sign language users have been excluded from this practice. There is no evidence base for the cultural coherence of this approach with Deaf people who sign, nor any prior investigation of the linguistic and cultural adaptation that might be required for life-story work to be effective for sign language users with dementia. Given the lack of empirical work, this conceptual thematic literature review approaches the topic by first investigating the significance of storytelling practices amongst Deaf communities across the lifespan before using the findings to draw out key implications for the development of life-story work with culturally Deaf people who experience dementia and their formal and informal carers (whether Deaf or hearing). The reviewed work is presented in three themes: (a) the cultural positioning of self and others, (b) learning to be Deaf and (c) resistance narratives and narratives of resistance. The article concludes that life-story work has the potential to build on lifelong storying practices by Deaf people, the functions of which have included the (re)forming of cultural identity, the combating of ontological insecurity, knowledge transmission, the resistance of false identity attribution, and the celebration of language and culture.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 340-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhamini Patel ◽  
Mark Perera ◽  
Jill Pendleton ◽  
Anna Richman ◽  
Biswadeep Majumdar

SummaryThis article presents evidence for the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for people with dementia and their carers. The evidence base is not yet robust enough to clearly suggest which interventions are most suited for which environment. However, from our literature review there appears to be reason to use music therapy, aromatherapy, life story work, animal-assisted therapy and post-diagnosis/carer support work. We focus on both the traditional outcome measures of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) and the more difficult to measure, but equally important, person-centred outcomes of nonpharmacological interventions, as their properties are distinctly different from those of pharmacological agents.Learning Objectives•Be aware of the range of psychosocial interventions.•Have a better understanding of the possible outcomes from given interventions.•Be aware of the paradigm shift from managing BPSD to a person-centred approach that focuses on the patient's well-being and quality of life.


Dementia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 2731-2746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeline Cooney ◽  
Eamon O’Shea

The potential of life story work to add quality to dementia care is widely acknowledged. Whether this potential is always realised in practice and under what circumstances is less clear. This paper explores whether knowing the person’s life story enhances healthcare professionals’ understanding of the person with dementia and whether this understanding impacts on the person’s care. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 registered nurses and 12 healthcare assistants who had used life story work with people with dementia living in long-stay care settings. Data were analysed using the constant comparative technique. Engaging in life story work enabled staff to see the person behind the dementia. Understanding (as opposed to knowing) the person with dementia’s life story changed staff’s thinking on what is important when delivering care to people with dementia, with staff giving concrete examples of changes in how they delivered care to the person with dementia and what they considered important when delivering that care. It was concluded that life story work can facilitate a shift to person centred dementia care but how it is implemented matters if this outcome is to be achieved.


Author(s):  
John Keady ◽  
Mike Nolan

Dementia is a global issue but is experienced at an individual and relational level. This chapter traces the emergence of both person centred care and relationship centred care with the latter approach expressed through the Senses Framework. The theoretical development and practical application of the Senses [security, belonging, continuity, purpose, achievement, significance] are outlined highlighting the importance of staff, carer and person [with dementia in this chapter] all working together. The application of the Senses Framework to a recent practice development study set in a care home for people with dementia that used a combination of the Senses and life story work to create an 'enriched environment is then described. The chapter concludes with a discussion about how the Senses can be used to facilitate an early diagnosis of dementia and to help people with dementia and their families to engage with a life ‘outside the front door’, what we term ‘The Neighbourhood Space’.


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