scholarly journals Aesthetically Designing Video-Call Technology With Care Home Residents: A Focus Group Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonam Zamir ◽  
Felicity Allman ◽  
Catherine Hagan Hennessy ◽  
Adrian Haffner Taylor ◽  
Ray Brian Jones
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Older People ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Care Home ◽  
Framework Analysis ◽  
Focus Group Study ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Technological Intervention

BackgroundVideo-calls have proven to be useful for older care home residents in improving socialization and reducing loneliness. Nonetheless, to facilitate the acceptability and usability of a new technological intervention, especially among people with dementia, there is a need for user-led design improvements. The current study conducted focus groups with an embedded activity with older people to allow for a person-centered design of a video-call intervention.MethodsTwenty-eight residents across four care homes in the South West of England participated in focus groups to aesthetically personalize and ‘dress-up’ the equipment used in a video-call intervention. Each care home was provided with a ‘Skype on Wheels’ (SoW) device, a wheelable ‘chassis’ comprising an iPad or tablet for access to Skype, and a telephone handset. During the focus group, residents were encouraged to participate in an activity using colorful materials to ‘dress-up’ SoW. Comments before, during and after the ‘dress up’ activity were audio recorded. Framework analysis was used to analyze the focus group data.ResultsOlder people, including seven with dementia were able to interact with and implement design changes to SoW through aesthetic personalization. Themes arising from the data included estrangement, anthropomorphism, reminiscence, personalization, need for socialization versus fear of socialization and attitudes toward technology. After this brief exposure to SoW, residents expressed the likelihood of using video-calls for socialization in the future.ConclusionCare home residents enjoy engaging with new technologies when given the opportunity to interact with it, to personalize it and to understand its purpose. Low cost aesthetic personalization of technologies can improve their acceptability, usability, and implementation within complex care environments.

scholarly journals Developing a recovery-focused therapy for older people with bipolar disorder: a qualitative focus group study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. e049829
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Tyler ◽  
Fiona Lobban ◽  
Rita Long ◽  
Steven H Jones
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Older People ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Focus Group Study ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Age Related Changes

ObjectivesAs awareness of bipolar disorder (BD) increases and the world experiences a rapid ageing of the population, the number of people living with BD in later life is expected to rise substantially. There is no current evidence base for the effectiveness of psychological interventions for older adults with BD. This focus group study explored a number of topics to inform the development and delivery of a recovery-focused therapy (RfT) for older adults with BD.DesignA qualitative focus group study.SettingThree focus groups were conducted at a university in the North West of England.ParticipantsEight people took part in the focus groups; six older adults with BD, one carer and one friend.ResultsParticipant’s responses clustered into six themes: (1) health-related and age-related changes in later life, (2) the experience of BD in later life, (3) managing and coping with BD in later life, (4) recovery in later life, (5) seeking helping in the future and (6) adapting RfT for older people.ConclusionsParticipants reported a range of health-related and age-related changes and strategies to manage their BD. Participants held mixed views about using the term ‘recovery’ in later life. Participants were in agreement that certain adaptations were needed for delivering RfT for older adults, based on their experience of living with BD in later life. The data collected as part of the focus groups have led to a number of recommendations for delivering RfT for older adults with BD in a randomised controlled trial (Clinical Trial Registration: ISRCTN13875321).

scholarly journals Designing a spoken dialogue interface to an intelligent cognitive assistant for people with dementia

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 854-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Klara Wolters ◽  
Fiona Kelly ◽  
Jonathan Kilgour
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Older People ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Spoken Dialogue ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Group Data ◽  
Focus Group Data ◽  
Diagnosis Of Dementia

Intelligent cognitive assistants support people who need help performing everyday tasks by detecting when problems occur and providing tailored and context-sensitive assistance. Spoken dialogue interfaces allow users to interact with intelligent cognitive assistants while focusing on the task at hand. In order to establish requirements for voice interfaces to intelligent cognitive assistants, we conducted three focus groups with people with dementia, carers, and older people without a diagnosis of dementia. Analysis of the focus group data showed that voice and interaction style should be chosen based on the preferences of the user, not those of the carer. For people with dementia, the intelligent cognitive assistant should act like a patient, encouraging guide, while for older people without dementia, assistance should be to the point and not patronising. The intelligent cognitive assistant should be able to adapt to cognitive decline.

Intensive Interaction and discourses of personhood: A focus group study with dementia caregivers

Dementia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 2018-2037
Author(s):  
Cheyann J Heap ◽  
Emma Wolverson
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Residential Care ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Care Home ◽  
Dementia Care ◽  
Focus Group Study ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Medical Discourses ◽  
Paid Caregivers

Introduction Societal discourses of dementia are medicalised and dehumanising. This leads to a social problem: the loss of personhood in dementia care. The communication technique Intensive Interaction, however, honours personhood. The current study aimed to explore how paid caregivers of people with dementia enact societal discourses of dementia, with and without the context of Intensive Interaction. This was to explore ways to address the loss of personhood in dementia care. Method Paid caregivers from two residential care homes attended an Intensive Interaction training day. Caregivers participated in focus groups before and after training. Transcripts of the focus groups were analysed with Critical Discourse Analysis, an approach which relates discourse to social power. Results Before Intensive Interaction training, carers accessed medical discourses of loss, non-communication and lack of personhood. ‘Being with’ people with dementia was framed as separate to paid work. After training, caregivers accessed discourses of communication and personhood. Intensive Interaction reframed ‘being with’ people with dementia as part of ‘doing work’. Family caregivers were largely absent from discourses. Care home hierarchies and the industrialisation of care were barriers towards honouring personhood. Conclusions Medical discourses of dementia reinforce a status quo whereby interpersonal interactions are devalued in dementia care, and professional ‘knowledge’ (thereby professional power) is privileged over relationships. Intensive Interaction may enable paid caregivers to access person-centred discourses and related practices. However, this requires support from management, organisational structures, and wider society. More research is needed to identify ways to involve families in residential care and to explore the effects of using Intensive Interaction in practice.

Older people dying with dementia: a nationwide study

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 1581-1591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen Meeussen ◽  
Lieve Van den Block ◽  
Michael Echteld ◽  
Nicole Boffin ◽  
Johan Bilsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Elderly People ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Care Home ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Early Palliative Care ◽  
People With Dementia

ABSTRACTBackground: Large-scale nationwide data describing the end-of-life characteristics of older people with dementia are lacking. This paper describes the dying process and end-of-life care provided to elderly people with mild or severe dementia in Belgium. It compares with elderly people dying without dementia.Methods: A nationwide retrospective mortality study was conducted, via representative network of general practitioners (GPs) in 2008 in Belgium, with weekly registration of all deaths (aged ≥ 65) using a standardized form. GPs reported on diagnosis and severity of dementia, aspects of end-of-life care and communication, and on the last week of life in terms of symptoms that caused distress as judged by the GP, and the patients’ physical and cognitive abilities.Results: Thirty-one percent of our sample (1,108 deaths) had dementia (43% mildly, 57% severely). Of those, 26% died suddenly, 59% in care home, and 74% received palliative treatment, versus 37%, 19%, and 55% in people without dementia. GP–patient conversations were less frequent among those with (45%) than those without (73%) dementia, and 11% of both groups had a proxy decision-maker. During the last week of life, physical and psychological distress was common in both groups. Of older people with dementia, 83% were incapable of decision-making and 83% were bedridden; both significantly higher percentages than found in the group without dementia (24% and 52%).Conclusions: Several areas of end-of-life care provision could be improved. Early communication and exploration of wishes and appointment of proxy decision-makers are important components of an early palliative care approach which appears to be initiated too infrequently.

Olanzapine and risperidone prescriptions for people with dementia in care

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 459-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren Malone ◽  
Paul Bradley ◽  
James Lindesay
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
Care Home ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Community Mental Health Team ◽  
Mental Health Team ◽  
Health Team ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Audit Period ◽  
Gp Care

AIMS AND METHODTo determine what has happened to care home residents with dementia who were on risperidone or olanzapine prior to the Committee on the Safety of Medicines (CSM) guidance, and to compare with a previous audit of the practice within a community mental health team (CMHT) for older people. Residents with dementia were identified from 10 randomly selected care homes in Leicestershire, and prescriptions before and 9 months after the CSM guidance were assessed. Carers were interviewed to determine who was reviewing residents and how often a review occurred.RESULTSIn total, 330 residents' medication charts were assessed; 164 (50%) had documentation which identified them as having a dementia; 75 of these residents with dementia (46%) were on an antipsychotic at some time during the audit period. Before CSM advice 69% (37 out of 54) of the antipsychotics prescribed to residents with dementia were either risperidone or olanzapine; this reduced to 39% (19 out of 49) after the CSM advice. Out of those who continued on risperidone or olanzapine, the majority were under GP care only (15 out of 19) and overwhelmingly seen on an as-required basis and infrequently. In two-thirds of cases the prescriptions for antipsychotics were for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. Compared with the CMHT for older people, primary care was less successful at withdrawing risperidone or olanzapine.CLINICAL IMPLICATIONSFurther research is needed to clarify what approach would be most acceptable and cost-effective to assist British GPs in the management of this patient population.

scholarly journals Use of parametric speaker for older people with dementia in a residential care setting: A preliminary study of two cases

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuko Nishiura ◽  
Minoru Hoshiyama ◽  
Yoko Konagaya
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Older People ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
Personal Space ◽  
Acoustic Environment ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Behavioural And Psychological Symptoms ◽  
Technological Intervention ◽  
Narrow Space

Objective/Background Older people with dementia often show behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia such as agitation, aggression, and depression that affect their activities of daily living, and hence reduce the quality of life of their caregivers. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a new technological intervention—a parametric speaker, creating a narrow personal acoustic environment, which may reduce the manifestation of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia symptoms. Methods A parametric speaker was placed on the ceiling of a large day room, and personally selected pieces of music were provided in a narrow space just under the speaker during the intervention. Two older residents with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia participated in the experiment. Results Playing pieces of favorite music via the parametric speaker decreased their behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia during the intervention. In addition, this intervention reduced the burden on caregivers. One of the advantages of using parametric speaker was being able to create a personal space in a common room. Conclusion We considered that the parametric speaker might be useful to reduce behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia and the burden on caregivers, providing individualized rehabilitation for the improved quality of life of residents.

scholarly journals Preparing care home staff to manage challenging behaviours among residents living with dementia: A mixed-methods evaluation

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 205510292093306
Author(s):  
Niyah Campbell ◽  
Ian D Maidment ◽  
Emma Randle ◽  
Rachel L Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Care Home ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Power Calculation ◽  
Framework Analysis ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Care Home Staff ◽  
Mixed Methods Evaluation ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Challenging Behaviours

We evaluated an intervention designed to manage challenging behaviours of people with dementia. Framework analysis of interviews ( n = 21) showed the intervention modified practice and perceptions. The intervention ( n = 58; power calculation proposed n = 160 for medium effect) had no significant effect on attitudes to dementia for time ( p = .42) or care home ( p = .15). The Maslach burnout scores did not change significantly for person-centredness for time ( p = .83) or care home ( p = .29). Hope scores showed a significant effect post-intervention ( p = .004), but this was not maintained. No significant main effect was found for care home ( p = .36). Experiential learning enabled staff to experience benefits of person-centred care firsthand.

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