Effective Design of Recreation Activities in the Group Home for the Elderly with Dementia

Abstract

People with dementia spend their daily lives in solitude and anxiety. We aim to provide them with a sense of security and peace through a combination of nursing and medical care. This is the philosophy of the Kaide and Terado group homes, operated by TM medical services. The burden on family members stems more from the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, (BPSD,) rather than from core symptoms like memory and cognitive impairment. Due to this heavy burden on family members, family carers are available as one of the services of long-term care insurance. Group homes are another service covered by long-term care insurance, and allow people with dementia to receiving care in small groups while living as part of a community. The homes we discuss rely on both drug therapy and psychotherapy for treating BPSD, which presents in such forms as delusions of victimization, excitement, violence, and wandering. By providing care that encourages close connections to residents with dementia, and by arranging their living environment properly, group homes become places where people with dementia are supported by care staff and can live each day as human beings. In order to realize the principles on which we base our care, it is necessary for care staff to deepen their understanding of dementia. Also, we have developed various gimmicks based on recognized psychotherapy techniques like reminiscence therapy, music therapy, horticultural therapy, and animal therapy. One of our gimmicks is utilizing Japanese traditional arts to provide quality care in our group homes. In this paper, we report on a workshop in traditional Japanese flower arrangement, or ikebana, which was carried out in the Terado group home. This report includes results verifying the effect of this lesson on the mental stability of participants, using the GBS Scale and interviews with care staff to reveal the secret of the success of this lesson.