Evaluating a technology-based reminiscence program on engagement and affect in respite aged care : time travelling with technology

With an aging population, there is greater focus in ensuring that aged care facilities are delivering high quality care. This is particularly important with the increase in aged related diseases, such as those that result in dementia. Previous research makes clear the value of meaningful activity, socialisation and engagement for wellbeing and quality of life for older adults. Reminiscence therapy (RT), is as well-established a non-pharmacological intervention, used to increase engagement in older adults. It actively involves stimulating conversation through discussion of past events and experiences. The theory behind RT is founded in person-centered care and meaningful activity. Person-centered care focuses on the needs of an individual and has an emphasis on interpersonal relationships. Through personal life events, autobiographical memories are recalled, which assist in creating a meaningful experience and connecting a person to their identity. Additionally, technological developments (such as sharing video/images) offer possible new methods for increased engagement in the RT approach. However, there is controversy in existing research as to the benefits of RT and there is limited understanding of the effect of RT when driven by digital technology. The aim of this thesis is to build on and refine previous research by conceptualizing and quantifying older adult engagement. It explores this through investigating the impact of an experimental framework Time Travelling with Technology (TTT) on the engagement of older adults in respite aged care. TTT is a dynamic, interactive and immersive, technology driven RT program, that enables older adults to travel to locations of their past and novel places of interest. The research objective of this thesis is to investigate the effect of technology driven group RT on older adult engagement. More specifically, the focus is primarily on characterising engagement of older adults in residential care. This will be achieved through a multi-dimensional approach to measuring behavioural markers as proxies of the concept of engagement. The dependent variables include facial movement, lexical use and prosodic patterns of speech. Potential covarying factors, such as cognitive capacity, will additionally be considered to further explain such relationships. The central research question addressed in this thesis is: To what extent does technology delivered through TTT impact the engagement of older adults in respite aged care

The Relationship Between Social Intelligence and Hearing Loss

This study was an exploration of adults with long-term hearing loss (LTHL) and how it may relate to social intelligence (SI) proficiency. The outcome of this study was intended to illuminate a gap in the literature, namely, the manner in which those with long-term LTHL were able to understand social situations and communicate with others when auditory comprehension was limited. A quantitative nonexperimental method was used that provided the Tromso Social Intelligence Scale (TSIS) to a group of 66 adults with LTHL who were diagnosed with hearing loss as children, as well as a group of 70 adults with no discernable hearing loss (NDHL). The TSIS was used to determine if those with LTHL would have scored higher on the total scale score and the subscales of social information processing and social awareness, than would those with NDHL. The results of the study were determined by an independent t test. There was no significant difference in the total scale and subscale scores between LTHL and NDHL for this relatively small samples study. These findings could aid the hearing loss community at large through a focus on SI skills to improve confidence and communication for those with LTHL. One social change benefit of this study demonstrates that SI for people with LTHL is comparable to people with NDHL. Such a finding suggests that while people with LTHL did not rate higher in SI, they also are not impaired in social situations because of their hearing loss

The challenges and coping strategies of communication partners of older adults with disabling hearing loss using assistive hearing technology. a South African study

The effects of disabling hearing loss can create communication barriers that do not only affect the person with hearing loss (PHL), but also the communication partner's (CP) quality of life. Literature has previously been centred around the individual with hearing loss, thus leaving an information gap in South Africa that focuses on providing family centred care that includes the CP in the audiological rehabilitation process. It is important for hearing health professionals to consider the CP's wellbeing when managing older adults with hearing loss, as they have been found to play a significant role in the audiological rehabilitation process. Therefore, exploring the Goal Sharing for Partners Strategy (GPS) tool in a South African context will contribute to the knowledge in the field of audiological rehabilitation. Furthermore, gaining insight into the challenges and coping strategies that CPs experience will improve on the approach to the service provided in audiological rehabilitation. A qualitative research design was employed with a sample of 10 couples who completed the GPS tool and semi-structured interviews. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The results revealed four overarching themes that presented the effects of disabling hearing loss on the CP. The impact of disabling hearing loss resulted in daily life communication challenges for the CP. These challenges affected CPs emotionally as well as transformed the way they communicated in their relationships, however the values, beliefs and personality of the CPs allowed them to cope and develop resilience to the burden of third-party disability. Additionally, the usability questionnaire demonstrated that the GPS tool was an appropriate tool to use in South Africa when adopting a family centred approach to audiological rehabilitation and was most beneficial when implemented as an interview guide administered by an audiologist. The information from this study can be used to provide support to other CPs as well as enhance the success of audiological rehabilitation for PHLs through a family centred approach

The self-determined and partner-predicted topic preferences of adults with Aphasia

The impact of aphasia on the lives of the individuals with the disorder as well as their family and friends is significant. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems that use topics to organise the message content within the systems have been found to be an effective way of facilitating the communicative attempts of individuals with aphasia. These topics need to be pre-selected for storage in the AAC systems prior to their use in naturally occurring communication instances. Most frequently, the familiar communication partners of adults with aphasia are asked to act as informants and predict which topics their partner with aphasia would like to have included in their AAC system. Informant-input however, is not always accurate and the need for adults with aphasia themselves to be actively involved in this process has been stressed by many researchers. The main aim of the study therefore was to determine the topic preferences (on a threepoint semantic differential scale) of adults with expressive aphasia as indicated by both the adults themselves and their familiar communication partners. Participants with aphasia (n=10) were requested to choose someone that knew them well and with whom they communicated regularly to take part in the study with them. This person was termed a ‘familiar communication partner’ and was requested to participate in the study by predicting the topic preferences of their partner with aphasia with the use of the Talking Mats™ framework. These familiar communication partners (n=10) were also requested to think of any additional topics that their partners with aphasia would like to talk about that were not included in the 37 Pictographic Communication Resources (PCR) topics presented to them. These additional topics were then added to the 37 PCR topics and presented to the adults with aphasia for evaluation by means of the Talking Mats™ framework. Results of the study revealed that the participants with aphasia wanted to talk about the majority of the PCR topics presented to them (70.81%), with their familiar communication partners also predicting that the adults with aphasia would like to talk about the majority of the PCR topics (64.05%). Topics that the adults with aphasia wanted to talk about included those related to aphasia and physical impairment, as well as those related to work and other appropriate social roles. The average agreement of topic preferences, provided by both participant groups, over all topics and dyads was 65%. This indicates that in general, the familiar communication partners predicted their partner with aphasia’s topic preferences relatively accurately. Variations occurred across topics (30-100%) and dyads (48.65-89.19%). Knowledge of the topic preferences of adults with aphasia and the topic preference discrepancies within dyads can aid clinicians and AAC specialists in appropriately facilitating the pre-selection and storage of topics within AAC systems for use by adults with aphasia.Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010.Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC)Unrestricte

Social skills training: a parent education program for culturally diverse parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Current information pertaining to families with a child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders indicates a need for parent interventions that target social skills training, culturally responsive treatments for ethnic minorities, and stress and coping. In response to these needs, a culturally responsive program was designed to teach parents of children ages 6-12 with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), to facilitate social skills development in their children and reduce the parental stress associated with having a child diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. The program is intended to be a resource for clinicians that want to provide culturally responsive social skills training for parents of children with ASD, by serving as an adjunct to traditional forms of social skills training. This study consisted of three phases. The first phase consisted of a comprehensive review of existing literature. The second stage consisted of the integration of data in preparation for the development of the program. The final stage consisted of having the program evaluated for accuracy, effectiveness, and relevance of content by an expert panel

Designing a visual component of communication within 3D avatar virtual worlds

Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/2600 on 08.20.2017 by CS (TIS)Over the last few years 3D avatar virtual worlds (AVW) have emerged on the Internet. These are computer generated, multi-user, graphical spaces within which people meet, form social groups and interact with each other in real time, typically through the exchange of text or audio messages. Each user is represented within the space by a digital image known as an avatar, which is usually humanoid in form, and is predominantly under the control of the person it represents. This thesisd escribesa creativep roject that is concernedw ith aspectso f social communication between users of "Ws. In particular, an avatar is designed that is capable of performing body language, and a set of useful gestures are implemented that support aspects of social interaction and integrate with verbal discourse in a meaningful way. In addition to this, a number of scenic properties are derived that enable better comprehension of the non verbal communication, e. g. spatial arrangement, camera position and lighting effects. The research consists of a number of interrelated design activities which include reviewing the literature on avatar design in order to locate goals and variety of the project, therefore building on the on the work of others; a comparative review of three popular 3D AVWs to explore the design problem; a study that aims to gain an understanding of the social dynamics involved; the adaptation of a diagrammatic technique for the purpose of modelling social interaction; the development of 2D and 3D prototype techniques exploring the application of the social interaction modelling technique; a body of creative work developing ideas for conveying non verbal communication and the appraisal of the effectiveness of this creative work. The research contributes to the field of avatar design in a number of ways. Firstly, it develops our understanding of social dynamics in virtual worlds. Secondly, it postulates modes of non verbal communication for both individuals and social groups that supports multi-participatory social discourse. Additionally, a number of useful research techniques have been devised, such as a linear diagramming technique that can be used to represent the structure of conversation thereby facilitating the exploration and understanding of the dynamics of AVW social discourse. The work is of interest to those working in the field of avatar and multi-user virtual world design. It may also be of interest to anyone thinking of using an avatar virtual world for the application of collaborative leaming, collaborative games and conferencing