scholarly journals Subjective wellbeing in people living with dementia: exploring processes of multiple object handling sessions in a museum setting

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Paul M. Camic ◽  
Laura Dickens ◽  
Hannah Zeilig ◽  
Sarah Strohmaier

Background: Dementia care guidance highlights the importance of supporting people living with dementia to access engaging and meaningful activities to promote their quality of life. There is a growing evidence base for the efficacy of heritage settings and arts-based interventions to provide social prescribing opportunities to help support wellbeing in this population. This study extended previous research and explored the potential processes underlying this effect in multiple small group object handling sessions in a museum setting.    Methods: A mixed-methods design was used comprising a measure of subjective wellbeing and thematic analysis to explore in-the-moment session content across multiple sessions. Four people with dementia participated in three, one-hour group object handling sessions led by two facilitators. Results: Pre-post wellbeing scores showed increases after each session though this was largely not significant. Qualitative findings provided more compelling results, however, and identified four key themes: facilitating, interest in exploring objects, active participation, and group collaboration; interpretations were made around the dynamic interaction of themes and subthemes over the course of three sessions. Conclusions: This is the first study we are aware of that has taken an in-depth look at multiple museum-based group object handling sessions for people living with dementia. Findings offer ways to optimise object handling sessions for people with dementia by providing in-depth information about the processes involved across multiple object handling sessions facilitated by museum/heritage professionals in a museum setting. This has useful implications for community-based activities as part of dementia care planning and public health programming. The study contributes to a deeper understanding and elucidates the processes that enhance wellbeing for this population who participate in such sessions. It also helps to develop further theoretical understanding about why these types of activities are helpful in community-based dementia care. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

2021 ◽  
pp. 096100062110651
Author(s):  
Jiamin Dai ◽  
Joan C. Bartlett ◽  
Karyn Moffatt

Growing dementia-friendly library services are contributing to community-based dementia care. Emerging community programs in libraries and museums provide notable opportunities for promoting engagement and inclusivity, but these programs have yet to receive in-depth assessments and analyses to guide future research and practice. This paper presents a case study examining a social and storytelling program for people with dementia run by a Canadian public library. It investigates two research questions: How can public library programs contribute to community-based dementia care? And what are public libraries’ strengths and challenges in running programs for people with dementia? The study involves participant observations of the program and semi-structured interviews with people with dementia, caregivers, and program facilitators (librarians and Alzheimer Society coordinators). Through thematic analysis of fieldnotes and transcripts, the study reveals how this inclusive platform supports engagement, fosters relationships, helps caregivers, and reaches broader communities. This research further uncovers the librarians’ diversified roles as demonstrated through their collaboration with professionals, preparation and research, and facilitation of the sessions. This paper advances librarianship research on enriching community-based dementia care, including furthering inclusivity and engagement and extending accessible library services. By analyzing library programming for the dementia community and assessing its strengths and challenges, the paper highlights librarians’ awareness of the community’s evolving needs and their collaboration with other professionals. It offers practical insights on useful resources and emerging best practices that will hopefully inspire other initiatives in which information professionals can help improve the well-being of vulnerable populations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 765-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate-Ellen J. Elliott ◽  
Christine M. Stirling ◽  
Angela J. Martin ◽  
Andrew L. Robinson ◽  
Jennifer L. Scott

ABSTRACTBackground: Community care workers’ experience of delivering support to people with dementia is less researched than that of residential workers. The purpose of the study is to explore community-based dementia care workers’ perspectives about their roles and the contextual variables that impact upon their work experiences.Method: A qualitative design was employed. Twenty-five community dementia care workers (average age 53 years, majority female and employed casually) participated in standardized semi-structured interviews about their job roles, training, employer agenda, organizational support, and intention to stay. A deductive approach to Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was adopted to identify key themes.Results: Three themes highlighted workers’ experiences. Occupational communion described strong attachment to clients and a desire for greater connection with colleagues. Job demands described the challenges of work, which varied with intensity. Job resources ranged from positive (strong organizational commitment) to negative (poor pay and conditions). Occupational communion was identified as a concept that exists at the interface between social and organization psychology that was perceived to be essential for adaptive coping. Identifying themes informed a conceptual model for designing intervention components aimed at improving workers’ skills, capabilities, and employer supportive functions.Conclusion: Occupational communion may be particularly relevant for women's caring careers and future research is needed to explore the relevance of this concept for men. To determine reliable change associated with interventions that target occupational communion, further investigation is required in relation to measurement approaches.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S774-S774
Author(s):  
Habib Chaudhury ◽  
Louise Nygard ◽  
Malcolm Cutchin

Abstract Maintaining participation in activities and places in the community can be challenging for people with dementia in the face of cognitive decline. These challenges could be related to driving cessation, accessing transit, ability to navigate in the community, socially uncomfortable situations and functionally difficult tasks. Consequently, people with dementia are at risk of progressively becoming isolated from the community and being unable to meaningfully age-in-place in the home and community. Familiar and responsive neighborhood built environmental features, public awareness of dementia and appropriate support, dementia-friendly transit systems, are among the potential socio-physical environmental factors to foster maintenance of participation and activities for persons living with dementia. Empirical literature exploring levels of participation outside the home, wayfinding and orientation issues, and the nature and prevalence of challenging circumstances for older adults with dementia in the community is scarce. This session will present four papers in this area based on empirical projects conducted in Sweden, Switzerland, U.K. and Canada. Three of these projects used the recently developed Participation in ACTivities and Places OUTside the Home (ACT-OUT) questionnaire to generate evidence on the levels of participation and perceptions of risks outside the home for people with and without dementia. A presentation will also summarize the theoretical bases for the ACT-OUT research discussed in the other presentations. One study will focus on the influence of Everyday Technology on participation patterns. Implications of the research findings to advance theoretical understanding, generate evidence-base and impact policy and practice, along with future research directions will be considered.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 205566831773338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Hitch ◽  
Jodie Swan ◽  
Ruth Pattison ◽  
Rachel Stefaniak

Background The aim of this scoping review was to identify the range, extent and nature of research around the use of touchscreen tablets by people with dementia in their home environment, particularly in regards to its use as a means of supporting participation in meaningful and socially connected activity. Methods A review of both peer-reviewed and grey literature was undertaken across 61 databases, along with reference list checking for articles published between 2010 and 2016. Results Twelve articles were included in this review, predominantly from Western European cultures and community-based home environments. The studies were exploratory in nature, with the majority focusing on the development of applications for people with dementia. Conclusions The study identified a range of exploratory research related to the use of touchscreen tablets by people with dementia. However, there were significant gaps within this evidence base, which provide opportunities for further research using more robust methodologies. Given the ubiquitous nature of touchscreen tablets in modern communities, further research could facilitate their use as a minimally stigmatizing and culturally appropriate form of support for people with dementia.


Author(s):  
Jane Farmer ◽  
Debra Morgan ◽  
Anthea Innes

This chapter summarises key themes across rural and remote dementia care internationally. It highlights consistent issues as well as innovations and points to note, across the three areas of policy, practice and research. The chapter concludes there is still significant work to be done in finding and translating new models for providing high quality rural dementia care and thus good experiences for people with dementia, carers and communities. The chapter throws down the gauntlet inviting more research and study in this area.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Francesco Miele ◽  
Federico Neresini ◽  
Giovanni Boniolo ◽  
Omar Paccagnella

Abstract For many years, dementia care has been dominated by the standard medical approach, in which dementia is treated mainly with drugs, such as anti-anxiety, antidepressant and anti-psychotic medications. With the aim of seeking effective treatments for patients with dementia, over the last years, several contributions have criticised the pervasive use of drugs for the management of behavioural and physiological symptoms related to dementia, proposing personalised interventions aimed at supporting patients and their relatives from diagnosis until death. With particular reference to long-term settings, in this work, we aim at understanding the organisational implications of three types of interventions (labelled supportive care interventions – SCIs) that have characterised this shift in dementia care: person-centred, palliative and multi-disciplinary care. Conducted by following the integrative review method, our review underlines how SCIs have controversial consequences on the quality of care, the care-givers’ quality of life and cultural backgrounds. After an in-depth analysis of selected papers, we offer some considerations about the implications of SCIs for long-term care organisations and future research directions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 1609-1618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Barbosa ◽  
Kathryn Lord ◽  
Alan Blighe ◽  
Gail Mountain

ABSTRACTBackground:This systematic review identifies and reports the extent and nature of evidence to support the use of Dementia Care Mapping as an intervention in care settings.Methods:The review was limited to studies that used Dementia Care Mapping as an intervention and included outcomes involving either care workers and/or people living with dementia. Searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Knowledge, CINAHL, PsychINFO, EBSCO, and Scopus and manually from identified articles reference lists. Studies published up to January 2017 were included. Initial screening of identified papers was based on abstracts read by one author; full-text papers were further evaluated by a second author. The quality of the identified papers was assessed independently by two authors using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. A narrative synthesis of quantitative findings was conducted.Results:We identified six papers fulfilling predefined criteria. Studies consist of recent, large scale, good quality trials that had some positive impacts upon care workers’ stress and burnout and benefit people with dementia in terms of agitated behaviors, neuropsychiatric symptoms, falls, and quality of life.Conclusion:Available research provides preliminary evidence that Dementia Care Mapping may benefit care workers and people living with dementia in care settings. Future research should build on the successful studies to date and use other outcomes to better understand the benefits of this intervention.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Sarah Strohmaier ◽  
Karl M. Homans ◽  
Sabina Hulbert ◽  
Sebastian J. Crutch ◽  
Emilie V. Brotherhood ◽  
...  

Background: There is growing acknowledgement for the need to move beyond exclusive biomedical understandings of dementia and also focus on how to improve the lives and wellbeing of people living with dementia. A mounting body of research advocates for the benefits of arts-based interventions for this population. The purpose of this study was to explore the links between multiple components of arts-based interventions and subjective wellbeing in order to help assess if these activities might contribute to meaningful community-based dementia care initiatives. Methods: Using previously collected data across different intervention sites, a within- and between- participants design was used that assessed wellbeing through the Canterbury Wellbeing Scales (CWS) in people with mild-to-moderate dementias (N = 201) who participated in various community arts-based interventions (ABI). Data were analysed using non-parametric statistical analyses and bootstrapped moderation models. Results: Increases in subjective wellbeing were associated with all forms of ABI. Co-creative sessions significantly strengthened the relationship between number of sessions attended and overall wellbeing as well as optimism. No significant moderating effect was observed between number of sessions attended and carer presence. Conclusions: In the largest study of its kind to date to assess wellbeing using arts activities in a community-based dementia sample, findings support the use and acceptability of the CWS as a measurement tool for people with early-to-middle stages of dementia and suggest that the CWS can reliably measure wellbeing in this population. In addition, the positive effect of arts-based interactions on specific aspects of wellbeing were found, which provide a better understanding of the conditions under which these effects can be prolonged and sustained. Further research is needed to better understand the environmental, social, and psychological mechanisms through which these improvements operate.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Karungi ◽  
Celestino Obua ◽  
Godfrey Z. Rukundo ◽  
Samuel Maling ◽  
Jessica E. Haberer ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Dementia is a public health problem worldwide with approximately 47 million people living with the disease. Although the symptoms are known and named, dementia remains a hidden problem in low and middle income countries (LMICs) as most people perceive it be a normal aging process. In a bid to improve healthcare, the Uganda government adopted a model of recruiting community-based health assistants known as village health teams (VHTs). These individuals helped in linking the community health units with community members with a goal of promoting health services. However, there is paucity of information about how the VHTs provide community-based management and care for people with dementia and their ability to perform the task. The purpose of this study was to identify the training needs of the VHTs in caring for people with dementia in rural communities of southwestern Uganda.Methods This study utilized a cross-sectional qualitative design conducted with the help of semi-structured interview guide. The WHO guide was adopted in developing interviews on dementia care and management in LMICs.Results From the study, VHTs reported the need for training with specific to dementia care to equip them with knowledge and skills on early detection and management, care and referral system. Results also show that VHTs were not able to detect dementia early since they perceive it as normal aging process. There was no community engagement in helping people with dementia since most people in the community do not take dementia to be a medical condition. Also there was little support for dementia in these areas as VHTs only referred people with dementia to health facilities in an event of physical ailment. Other organisations like churches only offered prayers only to the aged persons who are very close to the church.Conclusions The study found that there is an urgent need for training VHTs on caring for individuals with dementia in rural communities of southwestern Uganda. The identified gaps helped in designing the strategies for capacity building through training of VHTs on dementia care in rural communities of southwestern Uganda.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Sarah Strohmaier ◽  
Karl M. Homans ◽  
Sabina Hulbert ◽  
Sebastian J. Crutch ◽  
Emilie V. Brotherhood ◽  
...  

Background: There is growing acknowledgement for the need to move beyond exclusive biomedical understandings of dementia and also focus on how to improve the lives and wellbeing of people living with dementia. A mounting body of research advocates for the benefits of arts-based interventions for this population. The purpose of this study was to explore the links between multiple components of arts-based interventions and subjective wellbeing in order to help assess if these activities might contribute to meaningful community-based dementia care initiatives. Methods: Using previously collected data across different intervention sites, a within- and between- participants design was used that assessed wellbeing through the Canterbury Wellbeing Scales (CWS) in people with mild-to-moderate dementias (N = 201) who participated in various community arts-based interventions (ABI). Data were analysed using non-parametric statistical analyses and bootstrapped moderation models. Results: Increases in subjective wellbeing were associated with all forms of ABI. Co-creative sessions significantly strengthened the relationship between number of sessions attended and overall wellbeing as well as optimism. No significant moderating effect was observed between number of sessions attended and carer presence. Conclusions: In the largest study of its kind to date to assess wellbeing using arts activities in a community-based dementia sample, findings support the use and acceptability of the CWS as a measurement tool for people with early-to-middle stages of dementia and suggest that the CWS can reliably measure wellbeing in this population. In addition, the positive effect of arts-based interactions on specific aspects of wellbeing were found, which provide a better understanding of the conditions under which these effects can be prolonged and sustained. Further research is needed to better understand the environmental, social, and psychological mechanisms through which these improvements operate.


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