Lena Rosenberg
Karolinska Institutet
Sweden
Ageing: Rethinking shared spaces in residential care facilities for persons with a dementia disease
Forte, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare
220,892
01/12/2014
2.0
Alzheimer's disease & other dementias
This proposal address the challenges of how to make the shared spaces in residential care facilities for persons with dementia to serve the purpose of welcoming social interactions and participation based on the residents interests and values. Knowledge of how to conceptualizing shared spaces in residential care facilities are needed for person-centered care that will promote thriving and this project attempts to fill the knowledge gap about how this can be accomplished. The project is designed to develop critical analysis and practical programs which provide new ideas and practices in order to rethink residential care facilities for older adults as more enriched and stimulating environments, as suggested in the National guidelines for care of persons with a dementia disease. In this 2 years project a participatory research model, involving residents (persons with dementia), staff members and family/friends of residents, will be applied. This research process includes qualitative (participatory observations, interviews and focus groups) as well as quantitative (the 32 item thriving instrument (Bergland et al., 2014) research data. The main setting for the studies is the academic nursing home (Stureby vård och omsorgsboende) in Stockholm. A team of researchers purposeful selected from several academic disciplines will conduct the studies. The project serves the high national priority to overcome challenges facing creation of person-centered environments for care of persons with dementia.