How do professionals working in the field of dementia care define quality of nursing home care and how do they believe warm technology contributes to this?

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundWarm technology (WT) aims to improve quality of life of people living with dementia by supporting and enhancing human potential, social connectedness, dignity and self‐reliance. However, how care researchers and dementia care professionals think about the relationship between WT and quality of care (QOC) in nursing homes (NHs) is unknown. Also, there is a lack of international consensus on the definition of QOC in NHs. The goal of this project was to explore how care researchers and dementia care professionals define the concept QOC in NHs and how they believe WT contributes to this. The Tovertafel, a research based technology that activates nursing home residents with dementia by projecting interactive games on a surface, served as an example for WT in this study.MethodSemi‐structured (online) interviews were held in England, Ireland, Canada, United States of America and the Netherlands with 9 researchers and 11 care managers, 6 activity coordinators and 3 specialized nurses working in dementia care units of NHs. All care professionals had access to a Tovertafel. The interview guide was based on three existing multidimensional quality of nursing home care frameworks. To analyze the interviews, a thematic analysis was employed by means of open, axial, and selective coding using ATLAS.Ti.ResultsMost research and care professionals made a clear distinction between the clinical domains of QOC (e.g. providing effective and safe care) and the social domains of QOC (e.g. building relationships, trust, and providing person centered care) in NHs. According to the interviewees, the Tovertafel contributes to several social domains of QOC by: 1. supporting care professionals in the provision of person centered care and gaining trust from residents, 2. improving work pleasure of dementia care professionals, 3. creating a safe, pleasant and homelike environment, 4. increasing family involvement, and 5. increasing (non‐verbal) communication. The interviewees reported fewer and more indirect effects on the clinical domains of QOC in NHs. The results were comparable between countries.ConclusionWarm technology, such as the Tovertafel, seems to have a positive effect on QOC in NHs, primarily by having a positive impact on several social QOC domains.