[All on stage: Exploratory study of the use of improvisational theatre in nursing home]. / Tous en scène : Étude exploratoire portant sur l'utilisation du théâtre d'improvisation en Ehpad.

Supporting an elderly person with a neuro-evolutionary disease is a complex task, especially if the person has cognitive problems and lives in a nursing home. Non-drug approaches offer good alternatives to traditional treatment and care. More and more therapies based on theatrical improvisation are being developed to act on psychological health. The aim of this research is to study the effect of participation in theatrical improvisation workshops over a period of 8 weeks on quality of life, self-esteem, depressive symptoms and personal satisfaction in 10 elderly people (Mean = 87.70 years; SD = 2.87 years) with mild cognitive impairment. At the end of the theatre sessions, the participants reported better psychological health. This study provides insights into the development of non-drug mediations for elderly people with neuro-evolutionary diseases.

Representations of aging around the world: influence of culture and Covid-19 pandemic / Les représentations du vieillissement à travers le monde : l'influence de la culture et de la crise Covid-19

This article provides a synthesis about the representations of aging around the world. The population of the elderly is increasing from year to year and the support of elder people is becoming a major challenge. Understanding the representations of aging is an essential element to catch how societies take care of their elderly. Beyond presenting the influence of the cultural variable on the representations of old age, this article also proposes to highlight the impact of the Covid-19 on these perceptions. Indeed, the crisis emphasized the way seniors are thought and treated when ethical questions arise.

Cet article de synthèse s'intéresse aux représentations du vieillissement à travers le monde. Le vieillissement de la population s'accroit d'année en année et l'accompagnement des ainés s'illustre comme un enjeu de santé publique majeur. Appréhender les représentations du vieillissement est un élément essentiel pour comprendre comment les sociétés prennent en charge leurs personnes âgées. Au-delà de présenter l'influence de la variable culturelle sur les représentations de la vieillesse, cet article se propose également de mettre en lumière l'impact de la pandémie Covid-19 sur ces dernières. En effet, la crise sanitaire aura permis de mettre en exergue la façon dont les ainés sont pensés et traités, lorsque des questions d'ordre éthique viennent à se poser.

Wii™ and older adults with dementia: what do caregivers think? / Wii™ et personnes âgées présentant un syndrome démentiel : qu'en pensent les soignants ?

Context: Currently, there are more and more dependent old people with cognitive disorders in nursing homes, who have difficulties, even disabilities, in daily life activities such as washing, dressing, eating or orienting themselves. This represents a significant workload for caregivers. Non-drug approaches have a very wide field of action, impacting the resident as well as his environment. For example, video game such as Wii™ have many advantages (low cost, easy to use, various games) and positive cognitive, motor, social and psychological effects Objectives: The objective of this qualitative study was through the establishment of a Wii™ animation in a nursing home. First, caregivers observed old people with advanced cognitive disorders in order to see changes over their participation. In a second step, these same caregivers were invited to describe their feelings about the participants reception of the Wii™ animation, after three months of using the console. Results: Five residents were observed and presented a gradual improvement in the understanding of the instructions (console usage and game rules), with more motivation and participation. Six caregivers observed these workshops for three months and highlighted positive reactions and final adherence to its implementation, a motivational impact and general positive effects (cognitive and motor stimulation, psychoaffective effects and favored social interactions).

Contexte: L'accueil, en perpétuelle hausse, de personnes âgées dépendantes avec des troubles cognitifs dans les établissements spécialisés représente une charge de travail conséquente pour les soignants. Les jeux vidéo en tant qu'approches non médicamenteuses offrent des avantages de stimulation et ont un champ d'action très large, impactant le résident mais aussi son environnement. Objectifs: L'objectif de cette étude qualitative passe par l'instauration d'un atelier Wii™ en Ehpad. Dans un premier temps, les soignants ont observé des personnes âgées présentant un syndrome démentiel afin de voir les évolutions des comportements au fil de leurs participations. Dans un second temps, ces mêmes soignants ont été invités à décrire leur ressenti face à l'accueil des participants, après trois mois d'utilisation de la console. Résultats: Cinq résidents ont été observés et ont présenté une amélioration progressive de la compréhension des consignes, avec davantage de motivation et de participation. Six soignants ont observé ces ateliers durant trois mois et ont souligné des réactions positives à son instauration, un impact motivationnel et des effets positifs généraux.

Brakes and levers to implement an animal-assisted intervention in nursing homes: Preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of scientific studies have dealt with the benefits of animal assisted intervention programs (AAI). Although many positive effects have been identified, there are still few AAI programs in nursing homes. To date, no study has investigated special the difficulties in implementing such a program. The aim of this study was to explore the representations of this type of program among caregivers. METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted between January and June 2019. Psychologists conducted 11 interviews with people working in nursing homes. The sample was based on different professions and on the fact that participants had already been involved in an IAA program. RESULTS: The results were organized according to two main themes: brakes and levers. The results show that the brakes were raised quickly before the implementation of the project, but once the project had been implemented, the perceived beneficial effects multiplied and all those interviewed mentioned the benefits of animals. More than half of the caregivers interviewed mentioned animals as a lever, facilitating contact with elderly people suffering from dementia. Setting up a project upstream enhanced the success of this type of program. CONCLUSION: The benefits perceived by the people interviewed are consistent with the scientific literature. The obstacles mentioned for implementing this type of program can be reduced by a rigorous and well-thought-out project.

The impact of street clothes among caregivers on residents with dementia in special care units: The STRECLO study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine the impact of caregivers' street clothes on people living in special care units (SCUs). We hypothesised that caregivers wearing street clothes would improve residents' relationships with other residents and caregivers and, as a consequence, would improve their quality of life. BACKGROUND: Environmental factors have been recognised as important elements in the care of people with dementia. Among these factors, the importance of the caregivers' appearance and more particularly their street clothes has been raised. DESIGN: The Street Clothes study (STRECLO) was designed as a multicentre crossover observational study. METHOD: This study was conducted in two volunteer nursing homes. It involved videotaping residents (N = 24) over a 6-month period: caregivers wore uniform and then street clothes for two consecutive three-month periods. Three outcome measures were observed as follows: (a) behaviours of residents, (b) contents of conversations and (c) proximal interactions between residents and caregivers. The STROBE checklist was used to ensure quality reporting during this observational study. RESULTS: When caregivers wore street clothes, we observed the following: (a) greater solicitation and less anxiety in residents, (b) content of conversations between residents and caregivers included more personal and less health information, and (c) more proximal interaction between caregivers and residents. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first study which investigated the long-term effects on residents of SCU caregivers wearing street clothes. Our study demonstrated the potential benefit of not wearing uniform on the quality of life of institutionalised people with dementia. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Given the budgetary constraints faced by nursing homes, wearing street clothes for caregivers could be readily applied to clinical practice and represents a promising way to increase the quality of life of dementia residents and their families.

Spirituality, social support, and flexibility among older adults: a five-year longitudinal study.

ABSTRACTObjectives:The objectives of the study were to examine the trajectory of spirituality among older adults, to investigate the roles of gender and religion on the developmental trajectory of spirituality, and to explore whether the linear growth of spirituality accelerated or decelerated at time points at which the participants reported high scores of social support and flexibility. DESIGN: A five-year longitudinal study. SETTING: The research used data from a longitudinal study, which follows a non-institutionalized older adults cohort of residents from France. The data used in this paper were collected at three time points (T1: 2007; T2: 2009; T3: 2012). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 567 participants were included in the analysis (59.44% female; Mage = 75.90, SD = 5.12). MEASUREMENTS: Multilevel growth curve analysis was used measuring spirituality, satisfaction with social support, and flexibility. RESULTS: The results indicated the following: (1) stability of spirituality over time, (2) older women reported higher levels of spirituality than older men, and those who had a religion reported higher scores of spirituality than their counterparts who had no religion (these effects were strong and clinically meaningful), (3) older adults who reported higher levels of social support and flexibility also reported higher levels of spirituality, and (4) the slope of spirituality seemed to accelerate at time points at which participants also had higher levels of social support and flexibility (these effects were rather small but of theoretical interest). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study help to improve the understanding of the potential benefit of encouraging the spiritual aspects of life.

Validation of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being (FACIT-Sp12) on French Old People.

The study aimed to develop a French version of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being short version (FACIT-Sp12), in order to provide a self-reported measure for French people in the field of gerontology. The study involving 63 nursing home residents was conducted to evaluate the construct validity, reliability, and convergence validity of the FACIT-Sp12. A confirmatory factor analysis corroborated a three-factor model (Meaning, Peace and Faith) with modifications for two items, also valid among people with cognitive impairment. Subscales showed good internal consistency and are correlated with quality of life and depression. In conclusion, the validated French version is an suitable instrument to study the maintenance and promotion of quality of life in the elderly.

Spirituality and religion in older adults with dementia: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Religious and spiritual issues are clearly important to the older adult population and may play a positive role in maintaining health and recovering from illness. This study systematically reviewed the literature examining the effects of religion and spirituality on health outcomes such as cognitive functioning, coping strategies, and quality of life in people with dementia. METHODS: First, 51 articles with defined keywords were collected from online databases. Then, using inclusion and exclusion criteria, 11 articles were selected. These were classified according to methodological quality before being analyzed one by one. RESULTS: The findings highlight the benefits of spirituality and religion on health outcomes. Three articles showed that in participants who used their spirituality or religion more, through their faith, their practices and in maintaining social interactions, their cognitive disorders tended to reduce or stabilize. In the other eight articles, use of spirituality or faith in daily life enabled people to develop coping strategies to help accept their disease, maintain their relationships, maintain hope, and find meaning in their lives, thereby improving their quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Spirituality and religion appear to slow cognitive decline, and help people use coping strategies to deal their disease and have a better quality of life. This literature review allows us to take stock of research over the last decade on spirituality/religion and health outcomes. The benefits observed should be considered with caution and included in rigorous experimental research in the future.