scholarly journals Nursing Students Explore Meaningful Activities for Nursing Home Residents: Enlivening the Residents by Cultivating Their Spark of Life

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-228
Author(s):  
Britt Øvrebø Haugland ◽  
Tove Giske

International research focuses on person-centered care, quality of life, and quality of care for people living in long-term care facilities, and that it can be challenging to improve the quality of life for residents with dementia. The aim of this study was to explore ways of developing appropriate person-centered activities for nursing home residents based on what would be meaningful for them. A qualitative explorative design was chosen. Twelve students each year over a three-year period participated in the study (altogether 36). Each student tailored joyful and meaningful activities for two nursing home residents and wrote eight reflection journals each (altogether 284). Additional data came from eight focus group interviews with the students. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The main theme was “Enlivening the residents by cultivating their spark of life”. Two main categories were identified: (1) “Journeying to meaningful and enlivening (enjoyable) activities”, and (2) “Expressions of enlivening”, It is possible to tailor meaningful and enlivening activities together with the individual person with dementia. Involvement and engagement are necessary to understand the verbal and nonverbal expressions and communicate with the individual resident.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 89-89
Author(s):  
Minhong Lee ◽  
Kyeongmo Kim ◽  
Sok An

Abstract Background and Purpose: Addressing issues of quality of life of nursing home residents based on the human rights-based approach has been a top priority in the long-term care system in Korea but no study has yet examined the relationship between self-determination of nursing home residents and their quality of life. This study aimed to examine whether greater levels of self-determination in the provision of daily care were associated with higher levels of quality of life of the residents. Methods: We collected data from 332 residents (+65) at 20 nursing homes in a metropolitan city. We measured residents’ right to self-determination using the autonomy scale of the Client-centered Care Questionnaire. We also included quality of life, socio-economic characteristics, ADLs, depressive symptoms, and social networks. We ran multiple regression analysis using SPSS 26.0. Results: The findings of this study revealed that greater levels of residents’ right to self-determination were associated with higher levels of quality of life (β =-.425, p <.0001). Older residents who were higher levels of depressive symptoms were likely to have lower levels of quality of life (β = -.265, p < .001). Conclusions and Implications: This study adds to the growing literature on the ways nursing home residents’ self-determination contributes to their quality of life. More opportunities for self-determination in their treatment should be given to promote recovery and to encourage participation in the decision-making process. Nursing practitioners and policymakers in Korea should develop programs and/or services that enhance residents’ self-determination to improve their quality of life.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Julie L. O’Sullivan ◽  
Sonia Lech ◽  
Paul Gellert ◽  
Ulrike Grittner ◽  
Jan-Niklas Voigt-Antons ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives: To investigate global and momentary effects of a tablet-based non-pharmacological intervention for nursing home residents living with dementia. Design: Cluster-randomized controlled trial. Setting: Ten nursing homes in Germany were randomly allocated to the tablet-based intervention (TBI, 5 units) or conventional activity sessions (CAS, 5 units). Participants: N = 162 residents with dementia. Intervention: Participants received regular TBI (n = 80) with stimulating activities developed to engage people with dementia or CAS (n = 82) for 8 weeks. Measurements: Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES-I, primary outcome), Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease scale, QUALIDEM scale, Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Geriatric Depression Scale, and psychotropic medication (secondary outcomes). Momentary quality of life was assessed before and after each activity session. Participants and staff were blinded until the collection of baseline data was completed. Data were analyzed with linear mixed-effects models. Results: Levels of apathy decreased slightly in both groups (mean decrease in AES-I of .61 points, 95% CI −3.54, 2.33 for TBI and .36 points, 95% CI −3.27, 2.55 for CAS). Group difference in change of apathy was not statistically significant (β = .25; 95% CI 3.89, 4.38, p = .91). This corresponds to a standardized effect size (Cohen’s d) of .02. A reduction of psychotropic medication was found for TBI compared to CAS. Further analyses revealed a post-intervention improvement in QUALIDEM scores across both groups and short-term improvements of momentary quality of life in the CAS group. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that interventions involving tailored activities have a beneficial impact on global and momentary quality of life in nursing home residents with dementia. Although we found no clear advantage of TBI compared to CAS, tablet computers can support delivery of non-pharmacological interventions in nursing homes and facilitate regular assessments of fluctuating momentary states.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maren H. Aas ◽  
Vilde M. Austad ◽  
Marte Ø. Lindstad ◽  
Tore Bonsaksen

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard B. Degenholtz ◽  
Abby L. Resnick ◽  
Natalie Bulger ◽  
Lichun Chia

The quality of life (QOL) of the approximately 1.5 million nursing facility (NF) residents in the US is undoubtedly lower than desired by residents, families, providers, and policy makers. Although there have been important advances in defining and measuring QOL for this population, there is a need for interventions that are tied to standardized measurement and quality improvement programs. This paper describes the development and testing of a structured, tailored assessment and care planning process for improving the QOL of nursing home residents. The Quality of Life Structured Resident Interview and Care Plan (QOL.SRI/CP) builds on a decade of research on measuring QOL and is designed to be easily implemented in any US nursing home. The approach was developed through extensive and iterative pilot testing and then tested in a randomized controlled trial in three nursing homes. Residents were randomly assigned to receive the assessment alone or both the assessment and an individualized QOL care plan task. The results show that residents assigned to the intervention group experienced improved QOL at 90- and 180-day follow-up, while QOL of residents in the control group was unchanged.


1995 ◽  
Vol 27 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. S236
Author(s):  
P. G. MacRae ◽  
L. A. Asplund ◽  
J. F. Schnelle ◽  
J. G. Ouslander ◽  
C. Morris

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyi Xu ◽  
Shu-Wen Tu ◽  
Chia-Chin Lin

Abstract Background The proportion of hospital deaths has declined in the past few decades, while the proportions of nursing home deaths have increased. This trend of increasing deaths in long-term care facilities underlines the importance of improving end-of-life care provisions in these settings to meet individual preferences and needs. Under these circumstances, a comprehensive understanding of end-of-life care preferences in local nursing home residents can help healthcare professionals and policymakers develop strategies to increase the advance directive completion rate and quality of care. This study aimed to explore and compare advance directive and end-of-life care preferences of nursing home residents in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Methods A structured questionnaire was developed by the research team to investigate advance directive and end-of-life care preferences in older Chinese nursing home residents. Nursing home residents with frail or pre-frail status and over the age of 64 were invited to participate in the study, and information on demographics, functional status, advance directive experiences, and end-of-life care expectations was collected through questionnaire interviews. Results A total of 325 eligible participants from 32 facilities completed the survey, including 238 older residents in Hong Kong and 87 in Taiwan. A significantly lower proportion of the Hong Kong residents had completed an advance directive compared with the Taiwanese (3 vs. 13%, p = 0.001). Among participants who did not have an advance directive, 46% of the Taiwanese participants said they would consider completing one in the future, compared with 20% of the Hong Kong participants (p < 0.001). A total of 79% of the Hong Kong participants and 80% of the Taiwanese participants responded that prolonging life in the given hypothetical dying scenario was “not important” (p = 0.76). Only 14% of participants in Hong Kong and 18% of participants in Taiwan reported prior occurrence of end-of-life care discussions with family members or health professionals (p = 0.37). Conclusions This paper adds evidence in support of improving end-of-life communication and the advance directive completion rate in nursing homes in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Further research is necessary to explore cross-cultural differences in end-of-life preferences and its applications in predicting decision-making and the quality of end-of-life care.


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