The psychosocial impacts of multimedia biographies on persons with cognitive impairments.

PURPOSE The purpose of this feasibility pilot project was to observe Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients' responses to personalized multimedia biographies (MBs). We developed a procedure for using digital video technology to construct DVD-based MBs of persons with AD or MCI, documented their responses to observing their MBs, and evaluated the psychosocial benefits. METHODS An interdisciplinary team consisting of multimedia biographers and social workers interviewed 12 family members of persons with AD and MCI and collected archival materials to best capture the families' and patients' life histories. We filmed patients' responses to watching the MBs and conducted follow-up interviews with the families and patients at 3 and 6 months following the initial viewing. Qualitative analytic strategies were used for extracting themes and key issues identified in both the filmed and the interview response data. RESULTS Analysis of the interview and video data showed how evoked long-term memories stimulated reminiscing, brought mostly joy but occasionally moments of sadness to the persons with cognitive impairments, aided family members in remembering and better understanding their loved ones, and stimulated social interactions with family members and with formal caregivers. IMPLICATION This study demonstrates the feasibility of using readily available digital video technology to produce MBs that hold special meaning for individuals experiencing AD or MCI and their families.

[1]  T. Kitwood,et al.  Dementia Reconsidered: the Person Comes First , 1997 .

[2]  L. Burgio,et al.  My Recaller is on Vacation: Discourse Analysis of Nursing-Home Residents With Dementia , 2002 .

[3]  Donald J. Henderson,et al.  Dementia and communication , 1991 .

[4]  Jan Dewing,et al.  Personhood and dementia: revisiting Tom Kitwood's ideas. , 2008, International journal of older people nursing.

[5]  M. Bourgeois,et al.  Effects of memory aids on the dyadic conversations of individuals with dementia. , 1993, Journal of applied behavior analysis.

[6]  Helen Pusey.  Dementia Care: interventions with people with dementia and their informal carers. , 2001 .

[7]  R. Butler,et al.  The life review: an interpretation of reminiscence in the aged. , 1963, Psychiatry.

[8]  J. Bornat.  Reminiscence reviewed : evaluations, achievements, perspectives , 1994 .

[9]  Bob Woods,et al.  Management of memory impairment in older people with dementia , 1994 .

[10]  J. Creswell.  Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five traditions. , 1998 .

[11]  Andy Sloane.  Home-Oriented Informatics and Telematics , 2005 .

[12]  Trent Apted,et al.  Tabletop sharing of digital photographs for the elderly , 2006, CHI.

[13]  D. Morgan,et al.  Sharing the caring: family caregivers' views of their relationships with nursing home staff. , 1994, The Gerontologist.

[14]  Dawn Brooker,et al.  Wellbeing and activity in dementia: A comparison of group reminiscence therapy, structured goal-directed group activity and unstructured time , 2000 .

[15]  L. Burgio,et al.  Effects of a communication intervention on the discourse of nursing home residents with dementia and their nursing assistants , 2002 .

[16]  Katinka Dijkstra,et al.  Conversational coherence: discourse analysis of older adults with and without dementia , 2004, Journal of Neurolinguistics.

[17]  H. Russell Bernard,et al.  Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches , 2000 .

[18]  J. Gladstone,et al.  A family perspective of family/staff interaction in long-term care facilities. , 2000, Geriatric nursing.

[19]  Kiyoshi Yasuda,et al.  Networked reminiscence therapy for individuals with dementia by using photo and video sharing , 2006, Assets '06.

[20]  Norman Alm,et al.  Designing a multimedia conversation aid for reminiscence therapy in dementia care environments , 2004, CHI EA '04.

[21]  L. Flicker.  Dementia Reconsidered: the Person Comes First , 1999, BMJ.

[22]  H. Brodaty,et al.  Family conflict in dementia: prodigal sons and black sheep , 2006, International journal of geriatric psychiatry.

[23]  S. Czaja,et al.  The role of family functioning in the stress process of dementia caregivers: a structural family framework. , 2006, The Gerontologist.

[24]  D. Bennett,et al.  Alzheimer’s Association Research Roundtable Meeting on Mild Cognitive Impairment: What have we learned? , 2006, Alzheimer's & Dementia.

[25]  L. Burgio,et al.  Communication Skills Training for Nursing Aides of Residents with Dementia , 2004 .

[26]  B. Berg.  Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences , 1989 .

[27]  Noriaki Kuwahara,et al.  REMINISCENCE VIDEO Helping At-Home Caregivers of People with Dementia , 2005 .

[28]  D. N. Ripich,et al.  Alzheimer's disease caregivers: The FOCUSED program , 1995 .

[29]  Morten Kyng,et al.  Design at Work , 1992 .

[30]  D. Haber.  Guided Life Reviews by Students with Older Adults in an Assisted Living Facility , 2008 .

[31]  R. Allen,et al.  The Legacy Project Intervention to Enhance Meaningful Family Interactions: Case Examples , 2009, Clinical gerontologist.

[32]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Universal usability , 2000, Commun. ACM.

[33]  I. Moos,et al.  Use of the life story in the institutional care of people with dementia: a review of intervention studies , 2006, Ageing and Society.

[34]  T. D. Wilson,et al.  Review of: Berg, Bruce L. Qualitative research methods for the social sciences, 6th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2007 , 2008, Inf. Res..

[35]  Richard Schulz,et al.  Making sense of mild cognitive impairment: a qualitative exploration of the patient's experience. , 2006, The Gerontologist.

[36]  Ezra Ehrenkrantz,et al.  “Media Memory Lane” interventions in an Alzheimer's day care center , 2000 .

[37]  Elizabeth Baikie,et al.  The impact of dementia on marital relationships , 2002 .

[38]  R. Schulz,et al.  Prevalence and impact of caregiving: a detailed comparison between dementia and nondementia caregivers. , 1999, The Gerontologist.

[39]  M. Bourgeois,et al.  Effects of memory aids on conversations between nursing home residents with dementia and nursing assistants , 2001 .

[40]  K. Gerrish,et al.  The research process in nursing , 2010 .

[41]  L. Burgio,et al.  Come talk with me: improving communication between nursing assistants and nursing home residents during care routines. , 2001, The Gerontologist.

[42]  F. Scogin,et al.  Evidence-Based Psychotherapies for Depression in Older Adults , 2006 .

[43]  L. Tippett,et al.  Memory of myself: Autobiographical memory and identity in Alzheimer's disease , 2004, Memory.

[44]  A. Spector,et al.  Reminiscence therapy for dementia. , 2005, The Cochrane database of systematic reviews.

[45]  G. Gutman,et al.  Communication between individuals with dementia and their caregivers during activities of daily living , 2000 .

[46]  Michelle S. Bourgeois,et al.  Memory aids as an augmentative and alternative communication strategy for nursing home residents with dementia , 2001 .

[47]  L. Burgio,et al.  Legacy activities as interventions approaching the end of life. , 2008, Journal of palliative medicine.

[48]  C. Henderson,et al.  Building bridges between families and nursing home staff: the Partners in Caregiving Program. , 1998, The Gerontologist.

[49]  L. Lunsky.  Childhood and Society. , 1965 .

[50]  B. Lundman,et al.  Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. , 2004, Nurse education today.

[51]  C. Pope,et al.  Qualitative Research: Observational methods in health care settings , 1995, BMJ.

[52]  Judy Kay,et al.  MEMENTO: a digital-physical scrapbook for memory sharing , 2007, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing.

[53]  David Bachman,et al.  Life review: treating the dyadic family unit with dementia , 2003 .

[54]  Christian Heath,et al.  Proceedings of CHI 2006 , 2006 .

[55]  Elsa Marziali,et al.  Memories of a Life : A Design Case Study for Alzheimer ' s Disease , 2006 .