The impact of past and present preferences on stimulus engagement in nursing home residents with dementia

Abstract

Objectives We examined engagement with stimuli in 193 nursing home residents with dementia. We hypothesized that activities and stimuli based on a person's past and current preferences would result in more engagement than other activities/stimuli. Method The expanded version of the self-identity questionnaire [Cohen-Mansfield, J., Golander, H. & Arheim, G. (2000)] was used to determine participants' past/present interests (as reported by relatives) in the following areas: art, music, babies, pets, reading, television, and office work. We utilized the observational measurement of engagement (Cohen-Mansfield, J., Dakheel-Ali, M., & Marx, M.S. (2009). Results Analysis revealed that residents with current interests in music, art, and pets were more engaged by stimuli that reflect these interests than residents without these interests. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate the utility of determining a person's preferences for stimuli in order to predict responsiveness. Lack of prediction for some stimuli may reflect differences between past preferences and activities that are feasible in the present.

Effects on Symptoms of Agitation and Depression in Persons With Dementia Participating in Robot-Assisted Activity: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Willingness to participate in the Paro activity, as in our study, could be seen as a tailored activity aiming to maximize engagement in dementia, 55 an appropriate approach to unmet needs observed as NPSs in NHs. This is in accordance with person-centered care, 56 with a care philosophy suited to reducing symptoms of agitation in dementia.…”

An Activity Program for Older People

“…The 3LP provides opportunities for the participants to engage in activities that are individualised and meaningful to them, minimised barriers and providing motivations. Individualised activities motivates participation and facilitate quality of life (Vriendt, et.al., 2014) and more responsiveness to institutionalised older people (Cohen-Mansfield, et al, 2010;Kolanowski & Buettner, 2008), increased adherence (Findoff, Wyman & Gross, 2009), reduced anxiety in relation to participation (Sung, Chang & Lee, 2010), enables the development of feelings of proficiency and success (Holthe, et al, 2007). Eliminating barriers to engagement and provide motivation facilitates enhancement in self-efficacy and confidence through a reduction in stress which eventually facilitate success in engagement in activities (Shin et al, 2009).…”

Do Reports on Personal Preferences of Persons with Dementia Predict Their Responses to Group Activities?

“…However, this evidence is based on studies that have examined only solo activities [5], or that have mixed both solo and group activities without reporting separate results for the different activity formats [6,10]. Only the study by Kovach and Henschel [11] examined group activities, but the focus of the study was not on the impact of matching preferences, and the results were also limited by the small sample size of 23 participants and lack of statistical analyses.…”

“…One study collected reports on past and present personal activity interests of PwD (such as art, music, reading, etc.) from their caregivers [5]. Each participant was then presented with stimuli that were either related or not related to those interests.…”