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Abstract
ABSTRACT Introduction Engagement in meaningful activity is beneficial for individuals with dementia who live in assisted living. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a theory-based approach, Meaningful Activity for Managing Behavioral Symptoms of Distress (MAC-4-BSD), for increasing engagement in meaningful activity, improving quality of life, and decreasing behavioral symptoms. Methods Using a cluster randomized controlled trial with repeated measure design, this study included 66 individuals with dementia from 5 communities. Outcomes were evaluated at the baseline and 4 months. Linear mixed models were used to determine the preliminary effectiveness of the MAC-4-BSD approach. Results Most of the participants were female (n = 49, 74%) and White (n = 58, 88%) with a mean age of 85 years (SD = 8.4). The MAC-4-BSD approach was feasible to implement for individuals with dementia who live in assisted living based on treatment fidelity data. At 4 months, preliminary effectiveness was demonstrated based on significant group-by-time interaction effects for engagement in meaningful activity (b = 7.95, p = .007) and number of behavioral symptoms (b = −2.21, p = .017) among those exposed to MAC-4-BSD versus the control group. Discussion These findings provide support for the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of MAC-4-BSD for optimizing meaningful engagement among individuals with dementia in assisted living.
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