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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Perceptions of family and staff on the role of the environment in long-term care homes for people with dementia | | Author(s) | Linda J Garcia, Michele Hébert, Jean Kozak |
| Journal title | International Psychogeriatrics, vol 24, no 5, May 2012 |
| Pages | pp 753-765 |
| Source | www.journals.cambridge.org/ipg |
| Keywords | The Family ; Care home staff ; Attitude ; Space needs ; Architectural design ; Quality of life ; Dementia ; Care homes ; Social surveys ; Canada. |
| Annotation | Disruptive behaviours are frequently the first predictor of institutionalisation. This Canadian multi-centre study explored families' and staff members' perceptions regarding the potential contribution of environmental factors that influence disruptive behaviours and quality of life of residents with dementia living in long-term care homes. Data were collected using 15 nominal focus groups with 45 family and 59 staff members from eight care units. Groups discussed and created lists of factors that could either reduce disruptive behaviours and facilitate quality of life or encourage disruptive behaviours and impede the quality of life of residents. Then each participant individually selected the nine most important facilitators and obstacles. Themes were identified from the lists of data and operational categories and definitions were developed for independent coding by four researchers. Participants from both family and staff nominal focus groups highlighted facility, staffing, and resident factors to consider when creating optimal environments. Human environments were perceived to be more important than physical environments and flexibility was judged to be essential. Noise was identified as one of the most important factors influencing behaviour and quality of life of residents. Specialized physical design features can be useful for maintaining quality of life and reducing disruptive behaviours, but they are not sufficient. Although they can ease some of the anxieties and set the stage for social interactions, individuals who make up the human environment are just as important in promoting well-being among residents. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-121026085 A |
| Classmark | SJ: QRM: DP: R5: YB3: F:59: EA: KW: 3F: 7S |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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