Implementation of a baby doll therapy protocol for people with dementia: Innovative practice

Abstract

Dementia is exhibited by both emotional and physical states such as agitation. Chemical restraints, often used for agitated behaviors, are not always effective and produce untoward effects. Baby doll therapy is a nonpharmacologic therapy that can affect agitated behavior in dementia patients, yet a protocol for the therapy did not exist. An implementation protocol for doll therapy for those with dementia was developed and implemented with 16 residents in a dementia care center. Outcomes were measurements of the impact of the dolls on six areas of the resident's behavior and their reactions to the doll. Participants had an increase in level of happiness, activity/liveliness, interaction with staff and others, and ease of giving care. There was also a reduction in the level of anxiety. The increase in happiness was a statistically significant outcome. Baby doll therapy is an effective nonpharmacological approach for improving the well-being of patients with moderate to severe dementia.

What is the evidence for the activities of Namaste Care? A rapid assessment review

“…Twelve articles assessed as having medium to strong quality evidence were identified using the search term 'doll' (mean REA score = 19.5, strong). Despite some staff and family members viewing dolls as patronising or infantilising (Hubbard & Olsen, 2016;Braden & Gaspar, 2015;Shin, 2015;Hahn, 2015;Mitchell & Templeton, 2014;James, Mackenzie, & Mukaetova-Ladinska, 2006;Alander, Prescott, & James, 2015), all 12 articles agreed regarding the positive impact of offering dolls to care home residents with dementia, including: improved communication and social interaction (Ng, Ho, Koh, Tan, & Chan, 2017;Mitchell, McCormack, and McCance, 2016;Alander et al 2015;Shin, 2015;Bisiani & Angus, 2013;Cohen-Mansfield, Marx, Dakheel-Ali, Regier, and Thein, 2010); reduced anxiety (Alander et al 2015;Bisiani & Angus, 2013); and reduction in behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (Cantarella, Borella, Faggian, Navuzzi, & De Beni, 2018). Mitchell et al (2016) reported an improvement in eating, however, Cantarella et al (2018) did not.…”

Non-pharmacological Treatment of Alzheimer’s

“…In spite of the benefits, the use of therapeutic dolls also has its negatives, such as the infantilization of the senior, thereby breaking ethics. For these reasons, we must emphasize the individual approach and we cannot generalize their mass use under any circumstances [24].…”

Vpliv terapije z lutko na življenje oseb, obolelih za demenco

“…Ugotovili so, da se je interakcija z negovalnim osebjem izboljšala. Manj je bilo tesnobe, tavanja, nemira, agresivnega vedenja in halucinacij (James, et al, 2006;Braden & Gaspar, 2015). Z vidika zadovoljevanja duhovnih potreb oseb, obolelih za demenco, so nefarmakološki pristopi zelo pomembni.…”

“…Z vidika zadovoljevanja duhovnih potreb oseb, obolelih za demenco, so nefarmakološki pristopi zelo pomembni. Različne raziskave (James, et al, 2006;Bisiani & Angus, 2012;Mitchell & Templeton, 2014;Pezzati, et al, 2014;Braden & Gaspar, 2015) ugotavljajo, da je terapija z lutko v holistični obravnavi oseb, obolelih za demenco, zelo učinkovita. Glede na hitro naraščanje števila oseb, obolelih za demenco, je poznavanje terapije z lutko kot načina zmanjševanja vedenjskih, psiholoških sprememb in duhovne stiske lahko priložnost za njeno vključitev v obravnavo oseb z demenco tudi v slovenskem prostoru.…”