Estudio de la implicación en un grupo de personas con demencia con atención tradicional y un grupo con atención centrada en la persona / Study of engagement in a group of people with dementia in traditional care settings and a group with person centred care

Introducción. Las personas con demencia en contexto residencial presentan un grado elevado de apatía y desconexión con el entorno. La ausencia de estimulación y la baja frecuencia de actividades personalizadas, características en los centros residenciales, podrían ser elementos contextuales que favorecen estos comportamientos. El modelo de atención centrado en la persona (MACP) promueve la participación de las personas en actividades cotidianas acorde con sus recursos, sus intereses y necesidades. El objetivo de este estudio es comparar la frecuencia de conductas de implicación y desimplicación en las actividades cotidianas en 2 grupos de usuarios residentes en unidades psicogeriátricas, asistido uno de ellos según el modelo tradicional y el otro según el MACP. Metodología. Participaron en el estudio 28 sujetos con deterioro cognitivo y residentes en unidades psicogeriátricas: 14 usuarios de una unidad tradicional (grupo control) y 14 en una unidad en la que se incorporaron intervenciones relativas al MACP (grupo experimental). Los grupos fueron equivalentes en deterioro cognitivo, capacidades funcionales y años de ingreso. Se utilizó el Registro de Implicación/Engagement para observar en ambos grupos la frecuencia de 12 categorías de comportamiento de implicación en 2 períodos diferenciados: antes de las intervenciones asociadas al MACP y 18 meses después de haber comenzado las mismas. Resultados. Ambos grupos vieron incrementada la frecuencia de sus conductas de implicación en el período post; sin embargo, el grupo experimental disminuyó los comportamientos de desimplicación, mientras que el grupo control los aumentó. Conclusiones. Acorde con los datos, intervenciones asociadas al MACP podrían minimizar los comportamientos de desconexión con el entorno que suceden en el contexto residencial vinculando a las personas al contexto y facilitando la participación e implicación en las actividades de la vida diaria (AU)

Introduction. People with dementia in the residential care setting have a high level of apathy and disengagement. The lack of stimulation and customised activities, a common aspect in residential centres, could be contextual elements that promote these behaviours. The person-centred care model (PCCM) promotes the participation of people in their daily activities in relation to their resources, interests, and needs. The aim of this study is to compare the frequency of engagement behaviours in the daily activities in two groups of users residing in Psychogeriatric Units, one receiving a traditional care model and the other assisted under PCCM. Methodology. The study involved 28 patients with cognitive impairment in Psychogeriatric Units, 14 of whom were in a traditional unit (control group), and 14 were in a unit where PCCM (experimental group) was implemented. Groups were equivalent in cognitive impairment, functional capabilities, and years in the long-term care institution. The Registering Engagement Instrument (REI) was used to observe the frequency of 12 categories of engagement behaviour in two distinct periods in both groups: before the interventions associated with PCCM, and 18 months after starting them. Results. Both groups increased the frequency of their engagement behaviours in the post-evaluation, but the experimental group decreased their disengagement behaviours while the control group increased them. Conclusions. According to the data, PCCM interventions could reduce disengagement behaviours in the residential context, and could facilitate the participation and involvement in the activities of daily living (AU)

AsTeRICS: a new flexible solution for people with motor disabilities in upper limbs and its implication for rehabilitation procedures.

PURPOSE: To present the AsTeRICS construction set, and examine different combinations of sensors installed in the platform and how users interact with them. METHOD: Nearly 50 participants from Austria, Poland and Spain were included in the study. They had a heterogeneous range of diagnoses, but as a common feature all of them experienced motor limitations in their upper limbs. The study included a 1 h session with each participant where the user interacted with a personalized combination of sensors, based on a previous assessment on their motor capabilities performed by healthcare professionals. The sensors worked as substitutes for a standard QWERTY keyboard and a standard mouse. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain participants' opinions. All collected data were analyzed based on the qualitative methodology. RESULTS: The findings illustrated that AsTeRICS is a flexible platform whose sensors can adapt to different degrees of users' motor capabilities, thus facilitating in most cases the interaction of the participants with a common computer. CONCLUSION: AsTeRICS platform can improve the interaction between people with mobility limitations and computers. It can provide access to new technologies and become a promising tool that can be integrated in physical rehabilitation programs for people with motor disabilities in their upper limbs. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION: The AsTeRICS platform offers an interesting tool to interface and support the computerized rehabilitation program of the patients. Due to AsTeRICS platform high usability features, family and rehabilitation professionals can learn how to use the AsTeRICS platform quickly fostering the key role of their involvement on patients' rehabilitation. AsTeRICS is a flexible, extendable, adaptable and affordable technology adapted for using computer, environmental control, mobile phone, rehabilitation programs and mechatronic systems. AsTeRICS makes possible an easy reconfiguration and integration of new functionalities, such as biofeedback rehabilitation, without major changes in the system.