Abstract
BackgroundPerson-centred care is widely recognised as important for helping people with dementia maintain a sense of self and purpose in life – especially for those living in care facilities. Despite this, most care practices still adopt a medical approach in which physical needs are prioritized over psychosocial well-being. Addressing the need to find ways of promoting person-centred approaches in care, this study explored care professionals’ reflections on a novel, technological intervention (SENSE-GARDEN) that combines multisensory stimuli and digital media to create personalized environments for people with dementia. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of care professionals who had used SENSE-GARDEN for approximately 1 year.MethodsThree care homes in Norway, Belgium, and Portugal and 1 hospital in Romania used the SENSE-GARDEN with residents/patients with moderate to severe dementia over the course of 1 year. Qualitative data - including observations and interviews with 2 care professionals - were collected at the beginning of the study period from the Norwegian care home to explore initial impressions of the new SENSE-GARDEN room. At the end of the study period, 8 care professionals across the 4 facilities were interviewed for an in-depth exploration of their experiences. The two sets of data were analysed separately through reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsAt the beginning of the study period, the staffs’ focus was mainly on the novelty of the new SENSE-GARDEN room and how it provided opportunities for meaningful experiences. Post-intervention, the care professionals provided reflective accounts on how care could be delivered in alternative ways to standard practice. The themes generated from the post-intervention interviews were: “shifting focus onto personalized care”, “building and fostering relationships”, and “continuous discoveries”. Through delivering person-centred care, the professionals reported a sense of purpose and achievement in their work.ConclusionsProfessionals from care facilities across 4 different countries highlighted the value of interventions such as SENSE-GARDEN as a way of creating opportunities to better know people with dementia. Thus, they experienced improved relationships and greater job satisfaction. However, delivering person-centred interventions is time-consuming, and future research should evaluate the feasibility of sustaining them on a long-term basis.
Highlights
Person-centred care is widely recognised as important for helping people with dementia maintain a sense of self and purpose in life – especially for those living in care facilities
Over the last two decades there has been an emphasis on providing person-centred care towards people living with dementia, in which needs such as comfort, attachment, inclusion, occupation and identity are given the same priority as medical or physical needs [6, 7]
By engaging with the life story of the resident using SENSE-GARDEN, the staff were able to shift their attention away from dementia and instead focus on the person as an individual: You see the person and not the patient... and that’s a big difference I think when you see the photos and you get their story... you see the person in a whole different way
Summary
Person-centred care is widely recognised as important for helping people with dementia maintain a sense of self and purpose in life – especially for those living in care facilities. If staff are expected to deliver person-centred dementia care, it is vital that they are provided the tools and opportunities to do this In their global action plan on the public health response to dementia 2017–2025, the World Health Organization underlined that staff should be supported in delivering evidence-based treatment and care [11]. Such calls to action resonate in national legislation. In Norway, for instance, the Dementia 2020 plan recognised the importance of a personcentred approach in care services and placed an emphasis on providing meaningful activities in the care of people living with dementia [12]
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