Reciprocity and caregiver competencies.: An explorative study of Person-Attuned Interaction in dementia care

Despite the impact of dementia, people’s needs to connect with others and their environment remains. With progression of a dementia disease, a person will gradually be more dependent on assistance and care. In this study, we aimed to conceptualise our understanding of person-centred dementia care, theoretically based on Tom Kitwood’s ontology of personhood. A hermeneutic constructivist approach with four explorative phases allowed for a metaphorical way of working with implicit knowledge related to professional caregiving. We used Lego Serious Play™ for data collection and as a method for exploring, articulating, and conceptualising how we understood caregiver interactions. Based on our analysis, we developed a co-created, condensed model suggesting an ideographic understanding of person-attuned interactions in caregiving, emphasizing knowledge about personhood and reciprocity. We unfolded how professional caregivers represent an essential value in dementia care by providing a feeling of safety through person-attuned interactions, introspection and mentalisation. We found that caregiver competencies depend on resources, culture, and interdisciplinary collaboration, which puts a strong demand on continuous training and supervision and for political and societal priorities

What indicators have been used to evaluate the impact of music on the health and wellbeing of people with dementia? A review using meta-narrative methods

This review considers how research into the impact of music on people with dementia has been conducted, with a focus on the means used to measure outcomes. Although there is a rapidly growing amount of research in this relatively new area, it has evolved largely independently within different fields, such as psychology, music therapy and nursing. Using principles from the meta-narrative review method, this paper systematically surveys the qualitative and quantitative measures which have been used in studies relating to music and dementia from 1980 to the present day. Data extracted include the outcome measures used, the type of musical interventions, the setting of the studies, and methodology and study design. The quantitative studies greatly outnumber the qualitative studies, and most research has been done in long-term care settings. Instruments which measure neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, especially agitation, were the most frequently used. Other domains that were targeted in the studies included quality of life, physiological change, music-related outcomes and cognitive skills; the inter-relations between these domains are represented as a diagram. Researchers’ rationales for choosing to target these outcomes are discussed. Although reduction of neuropsychiatric symptoms is a valuable outcome, it is important that researchers are open to the possibility of other outcomes. We suggest that measuring an increase in positive responses might be an alternative to measuring a reduction of negative symptoms, and we highlight the importance of listening to people with dementia and carers when designing studies

Dansk oversættelse af MiDAS, et redskab til assessment af musikterapi for personer med demens

Music in Dementia Assessment Scales, MiDAS, er udviklet til at vurdere ændringer i trivsel hos borgere med demens som har deltaget i musikterapi. Målingen udføres af 1) personale før og efter musikterapien for at vurdere om der er en indflydelse i hverdagssituationer efterfølgende, eller af 2) musikterapeuten umiddelbart efter sessionen for at vurdere forandringer i selve sessionen. Der har været stor interesse for at anvende MiDAS i flere Europæiske lande, herunder Danmark. Derfor undersøgte udviklerne af MiDAS hvilke procedurer der anvendes til oversættelse og kulturel tilpasning af assessmentredskaber, og anbefalede på den baggrund en ti-trins procedure. Vi anvendte denne procedure til oversættelsen af MiDAS og således udviklingen af den danske MiDAS-DK. Den danske version af MiDAS er afprøvet af mere end 20 fagpersoner på baggrund af 296 udfyldte MiDAS-skemaer. Målet med artiklen er at beskrive oversættelsesprocessen fra engelsk til dansk og at præsentere den endelige MiDAS-DK. Music in Dementia Assessment Scales, MiDAS, has been developed to evaluate changes in wellbeing in persons with dementia participating in music therapy. The MiDAS forms should be completed: 1) by the caregiver before and after the music therapy session to assess an impact in everyday life, or 2) by the music therapist immediately after the session to evaluate changes within the session. There was a great interest in using MiDAS in several European countries, including Denmark. Therefore, the developers of MiDAS explored which procedures is used for outcome measure translation and cultural adaptation, and based on this recommended a ten-step procedure. We applied this procedure in order to translate MiDAS and hereby develop the Danish MiDAS-DK. The Danish MiDAS version has been tested by more than 20 professionals and based on scoring of 296 MiDAS forms. The aim with this article is to describe the MiDAS translation process from English to Danish and to present the final MiDAS-DK

Dansk oversættelse af MiDAS, et redskab til assessment af musikterapi for personer med demens

Music in Dementia Assessment Scales, MiDAS, er udviklet til at vurdere ændringer i trivsel hos borgere med demens som har deltaget i musikterapi. Målingen udføres af 1) personale før og efter musikterapien for at vurdere om der er en indflydelse i hverdagssituationer efterfølgende, eller af 2) musikterapeuten umiddelbart efter sessionen for at vurdere forandringer i selve sessionen. Der har været stor interesse for at anvende MiDAS i flere Europæiske lande, herunder Danmark. Derfor undersøgte udviklerne af MiDAS hvilke procedurer der anvendes til oversættelse og kulturel tilpasning af assessmentredskaber, og anbefalede på den baggrund en ti-trins procedure. Vi anvendte denne procedure til oversættelsen af MiDAS og således udviklingen af den danske MiDAS-DK. Den danske version af MiDAS er afprøvet af mere end 20 fagpersoner på baggrund af 296 udfyldte MiDAS-skemaer. Målet med artiklen er at beskrive oversættelsesprocessen fra engelsk til dansk og at præsentere den endelige MiDAS-DK.Music in Dementia Assessment Scales, MiDAS, has been developed to evaluate changes in wellbeing in persons with dementia participating in music therapy. The MiDAS forms should be completed: 1) by the caregiver before and after the music therapy session to assess an impact in everyday life, or 2) by the music therapist immediately after the session to evaluate changes within the session. There was a great interest in using MiDAS in several European countries, including Denmark. Therefore, the developers of MiDAS explored which procedures is used for outcome measure translation and cultural adaptation, and based on this recommended a ten-step procedure. We applied this procedure in order to translate MiDAS and hereby develop the Danish MiDAS-DK. The Danish MiDAS version has been tested by more than 20 professionals and based on scoring of 296 MiDAS forms. The aim with this article is to describe the MiDAS translation process from English to Danish and to present the final MiDAS-DK

Music therapy for in-patients with schizophrenia: exploratory randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Music therapy may provide a means of improving mental health among people with schizophrenia, but its effects in acute psychoses have not been explored. AIMS: To examine the feasibility of a randomised trial of music therapy for inpatients with schizophrenia, and explore its effects on mental health. METHOD: Up to 12 weeks of individual music therapy plus standard care were compared with standard care alone. Masked assessments of mental health, global functioning and satisfaction with care were conducted at 3 months. RESULTS: Of 115 eligible patients 81 (70%) were randomised. Two-thirds of those randomised to music therapy attended at least four sessions (median attendance, eight sessions). Multivariate analysis demonstrated a trend towards improved symptom scores among those randomised to music therapy, especially in general symptoms of schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: A randomised trial of music therapy for in-patients with schizophrenia is feasible. The effects and cost-effectiveness of music therapy for acute psychosis should be further explored in an explanatory randomised trial

Development of a Best Practice Guidance on Online Peer Support for People with Young-Onset Dementia

This work aimed to develop a Best Practice Guidance on online peer support for people with young-onset dementia (YOD). The Best Practice Guidance was developed through a systematic literature review, focus groups, an online survey, and interviews and consultations with people with YOD and professionals. The Best Practice Guidance consists of two parts. Part 1 contains information for people with YOD about what online peer support entails, what to expect from it, and how to get involved. Part 2 is aimed at those who facilitate or moderate online peer support (professionals or people with lived experience) and includes guidelines on how to optimize online peer support for people with YOD. The Best Practice Guidance on online peer support provides (1) people with YOD with evidence-based, relevant, and accessible information about what online peer support entails and how it could help them, (2) providers and facilitators with guidelines on how to optimize online peer support for people with YOD, and (3) healthcare professionals with a concise and accessible tool for signposting. Future research is needed to implement and disseminate the Best Practice Guidance among dementia organizations and healthcare practices and should include rigorous studies on the implementation and sustainability of online peer support for people with YOD