Impact of Training Dementia Caregivers in Sensitivity to Nonverbal Emotion Signals

Abstract

Ninety-one mid- to late-stage dementia patients residing in nursing homes, along with their staff caregivers, participated in a study designed to assess whether training caregivers in sensitivity to nonverbal communication could enhance mood and reduce symptoms in patients and improve psychological well-being in caregivers. Patients and staff at three nursing homes comprised three groups that were randomly assigned to either a non-verbal sensitivity group, a behavioral placebo group that received instruction in the cognitive and behavioral aspects of dementia, and a wait-list control. Training consisted of 10 one-hour sessions taught by a clinical psychologist using prepared materials. Patient measures, which were taken at baseline and at 4 three-week intervals, included patient symptomatology (depression, agitation, behavioral symptoms), as reported by the staff caregivers, and positive and negative facial expressions of emotion elicited during a face-to-face interview and coded by trained research staff. Results indicated that positive affect increased sharply during the first 6 weeks after intervention in the nonverbal group, with the placebo and wait-list controls showing no change. There was also a decline in negative affect across time for all groups. Effects with respect to patient symptomatology did not reach significance. Caregivers in both training groups showed a decline in symptomatology, whereas the wait-list control group did not.

Effects of snoezelen, integrated in 24h dementia care, on nurse–patient communication during morning care

“…Accordingly, there is considerable agreement in the literature on the need for specialized training for geriatric health care staff [1,[11][12][13][14][15][16]. The communication problems of staff members can be summarized as negative stereotypes about residents and their communication needs, undervaluing communication compared to physical and medical aspects of patient care and restricted communication style [1].…”

The role of psychiatrists in developing the skills of dementia care workers

“…Key studies on valuing care workers Kihlgren 1990Kihlgren , 1996Williams 1994;Hagen 1995;Matteson 1997;Moniz-Cook 1998;McCallion 1999;Proctor 1999;Wilkinson 1999;Lintern 2000;Wells 2000;Magai 2002;Testad 2005;Davison 2007.…”

“…Key studies on care plans Kihlgren 1990Kihlgren , 1996Ripich 1995;Palmer 1996;Matteson 1997;Middleton 1999;Proctor 1999;Lintern 2000;Wells 2000;Burgio 2001Magai 2002;Roth 2002.…”

Dysfunctions of Facial Emotion Recognition in Adult Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Influence on interpersonal difficulties

“…Improvement was associated with lower social anxiety and higher self-worth in girls but not in boys (Grinspan, Hemphill, & Nowicki, 2003). Another study realised with a nursing staff caring for demented persons has shown that training to recognise nonverbal signals enhanced staff's satisfaction, diminishing negative affect without having an impact on demented persons' symptomatology (Magai, Cohen, & Gomberg, 2002). A computer programme has been developed in order to increase the ability to read EFE by Asperger and Autistic children.…”