Dementia Care Research and Psychosocial Factors

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Dementia Care Research
• Social Interaction Studies

Background:

• Meaningful connections and reduced social isolation are key benefits of engagement for individuals with dementia.
• Understanding and measuring engagement in advanced dementia remains understudied and complex.
• This study addresses the need to explore caregiver perceptions, measurement practices, and promoting factors for engagement in advanced dementia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore family and formal caregivers' perceptions of engagement in people with advanced dementia.
• To identify current practices for measuring engagement in advanced dementia.
• To determine factors that facilitate engagement among individuals with advanced dementia.

Main Methods:

• Conducted eight interactive workshops with 19 family and formal caregivers.
• Utilized co-created vignettes, team-based activities, guided discussions, and video observations.
• Employed content analysis of workshop transcripts to identify key themes.

Main Results:

• Caregivers perceive engagement as a collaborative concept, observable through verbal/non-verbal cues and influenced by external factors like music.
• A lack of standardized tools and formal policies for measuring engagement was identified, with reliance on informal, personalized approaches.
• Contextual influences, personalized strategies based on interests, social interaction dynamics, and communication patterns are crucial for promoting engagement.

Conclusions:

• Caregivers perceive engagement as a behavioral response to environmental cues, acknowledging its assessability and the influence of environmental factors.
• The absence of formal tools and procedures presents a significant challenge in assessing engagement within care settings.
• A more rigorous approach is essential for evaluating engagement in individuals with advanced dementia.