Doing as much as I can do: The meaning of activity for people with dementia

Abstract

While it is assumed that persons with dementia benefit from being involved in meaningful activity, research examining this claim is limited. In particular, how individuals with dementia perceive this involvement is poorly understood. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine what constitutes meaningful activity from the perspective of persons with dementia, and to explore how they perceive its significance in their lives. We conducted an interpretive phenomenological analysis of multiple interviews and participant observation conducted with eight community-dwelling elders with mild to moderate dementia. For several participants, the single most important driving force in their lives was being active, doing as much as they possibly could. They were involved in a wide range of activities including leisure pastimes, household chores, work-related endeavors, and social involvements. These activities were meaningful in three ways: Through their involvement, participants experienced feelings of pleasure and enjoyment; felt a sense of connection and belonging; and retained a sense of autonomy and personal identity. Findings suggest that familiarity of the social and physical environment promotes involvement in activities. This provides a sense of continuity for people with dementia, with implications for their quality of life and personhood. Further implications of these findings for dementia care and future research are discussed.

Wellbeing-enhancing occupation and organizational and environmental contributors in long-term dementia care facilities: an explorative study

“…Although attempts have been made to define meaningful occupation (e.g. "occupation that is personally significant, that gives a sense of belonging and something to do, occupation that addresses psychological and social needs"; Phinney et al, 2007;Harmer and Orrell, 2008), the concept remains inexplicit, making it difficult to work with.…”

“…Identification also enables studying the impact of the care environment on resident occupation. For example, factors that were found to positively influence residents' occupation are the delivery of small, person-centered activities, instead of a central activity program (Train et al, 2005;Vollicer et al, 2006), a smaller number of residents in a care unit (Cohen-Mansfield et al, 2010b), a homelike atmosphere of the common living room (Phinney et al, 2007;Smit et al, 2012), and visual and occupational stimuli (Elliot, 2011).…”

The Reciprocal Causal Relationship between Social Activities and Health with Reference to the Cognitive Function Level among Community-dwelling Older Adults: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis

“…A longitudinal study consistently reported that the levels of social activity participation decreased as their cognitive function declined among Korean older adults [18]. These findings indicate that older adults who are cognitively impaired are less likely to participate in social activities, but the social activities are still valuable for the older adults who are cognitively impaired because they experience the meaning of pleasure and a sense of belonging through social activities [19]. However, there is a lack of research on what differences exist in the relationship between social activities and health outcomes with reference to the level of cognitive function for older adults.…”

Tales of The Sea: Connecting people with dementia to the UK heritage through maritime archaeology: Innovative practice

“…This highlights the importance of having activities for people with dementia to engage in (Phinney et al, 2007). These sessions enabled the participants to have fun, be mentally, socially and in some cases physically stimulated and challenged, to have enjoyment, opportunities to reminisce and to think of activities to do at home with grandchildren.…”