Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Dove, E.
• Hernandez, A.
• Cotnam, K.
• Gural, P.
• Shearer, T.
• Steele, M.
• Astell, A.J.

Titel

Impacts of a volunteer-based tablet program in adult day centres for people with dementia

Ist Teil von

• Gerontechnology, 2018-04, Vol.17 (s), p.156-156

Ort / Verlag

Eindhoven: International Society for Gerontechnology

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• risk ol becoming socially isolated, requiring creative interventions to address this growing problem1. Technology is increasingly being used in dementia care2 and there are many examples of touchscreen devices being incorporated into these interventions3'. For example, touchscreen tablets can be used to provide engaging activities to people with dementia in settings such as long-term care homes3. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impacts of a volunteer-based touchscreen tablet program in adult clay centres for people with dementia on social isolation and quality of life. It is hypothesized that implementing volunteer-based tablet programs {Figure 1) in adult day centres will reduce social isolation and improve quality of life of people with dementia through increased social connections with others (i.e. volunteers) and increased opportunities to engage in independent pastimes (i.e. tablet games). Method The study is being conducted in a community-based adult day program for people with dementia and other age-related challenges. Volunteers are supporting day program clients with dementia (n=9; mean age=77 years; mean MoCA=9.56) to play touchscreen tablet games 8-12 times for 20-30 minutes in a 1:1 setting over an 8-week period. Participants complete pre-post measures including the Social Provisions Scale (SPS) and the Quality of Life in Alzheimer's disease (QoL-AD) scale to look for changes in social isolation and/or quality of life. Feedback regarding the tablet program is being captured from day program clients through a post study interview, which aims to identify benefits, barriers and facilitators to implementing tablet programs in adult day centres. Results & Discussion The SPS and QoL-AD scores will be compared pre-post and analyzed using a paired t-test. The post-study interview responses will be qualitatively analyzed to identify emerging themes such as benefits, barriers and facilitators to implementing tablet programs in adult day centres for people with dementia. The results of this study will advance our understanding of the impacts of implementing touchscreen tablet programs in adult day program settings for people with dementia, as well as our knowledge about volunteers for people with dementia/care services.