Abstract
The people with dementia experience a progressive loss of cognition, while more than 90% of them develop behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD). BPSD may result in physical injuries and psychological distress among people with dementia and their family/caregivers. First-line care strategies in dementia care should not unthinkingly involve pharmacological interventions to avert or reduce the behavior, and should rather consider the person and their unique requirements. Therefore, a combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions is strongly recommended. Since the care staff in dementia care is required to be informed regarding the non-pharmacological approaches to address BPSD, the present study was aimed to evaluate the use of a rocking chair in the context of BPSD, quality of life, and medication usage among people with dementia at individual level. The secondary aim of the present study was to describe care staff’s experiences related to the feasibility and usability of rocking chair in providing care for PwD in a nursing home setting. The present research is a single-case study, performed using a mixed-methods approach, with six people having dementia and 11 care staff members in a nursing home setting. The people with dementia used the ErgoNova Rocking chair® for a mean number of five times/week, for eight weeks in total. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected prior to, during, and post-intervention (A-B-A design). The quantitative and qualitative data were consistent with each other. The mean, median, and relative change measures indicated a decrease in the BPSD symptoms, such as aberrant motor behavior, agitation, apathy, depression, irritability, and night-time behavior disturbances, and increased quality of life upon using the ErgoNova Rocking chair®. It was also considered to be feasible, usable, and non-labor-intensive intervention by the care staff. The obtained data suggested that the use of ErgoNova Rocking chair® provided short-term relief from aberrant motor behavior, agitation, apathy, depression, irritability, and night-time behavior disturbances, along with an increase in the quality of life of the person with dementia. The use of ErgoNova Rocking chair® may serve as a complementary tool to the non-pharmacological management techniques for people with dementia in nursing homes.
Highlights
Dementia is an increasingly prevalent chronic condition that affects an estimated 50 million people worldwide, with nearly 10 million new cases every year [1]
The people with dementia experience a progressive loss of cognition, while more than 90% of them develop behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD)
Since the care staff in dementia care is required to be informed regarding the non-pharmacological approaches to address BPSD, the present study was aimed to evaluate the use of a rocking chair in the context of BPSD, quality of life, and medication usage among people with dementia at individual level
Summary
Dementia is an increasingly prevalent chronic condition that affects an estimated 50 million people worldwide, with nearly 10 million new cases every year [1]. Since the prevalence of dementia is expected to increase substantially, it raises significant challenges to the healthcare and social-care systems [2]. BPSD may result in physical injuries and psychological distress in PwD and their family/caregivers, and is identified as a predictor of nursing home placement [5]. Verbal and physical abuse from the PwD exhibiting BPSD has been reported by care staff, which may result in minimized contact with the PwD, reducing their quality of care [4]. It is required that effective management of BPSD is identified and applied
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