Abstract:
For people living with dementia and their care partners, a decline in the ability to effectively communicate can cause significant distress. However, in recent decades, the arts have emerged as an effective care modality in fostering communication and expression for those with declining verbal skills and memory loss. Opening Minds through Art (OMA) is a national initiative that empowers people living with dementia by facilitating creative expression and social engagement through art-making in partnership with trained college student volunteers. Research has demonstrated that participation in the program benefits quality of life for those living with dementia and also improves student attitudes toward dementia. To date, however, no research has involved primary care partners. We implemented an OMA program at three residential care homes in State College, Pennsylvania, with residents cocreating artwork alongside primary care partners (i.e., a family member or primary medical personnel) over the course of four art-making sessions. We evaluated the effects of participation on quality of life and care partner burnout through pre-post use of \"emotional thermometers\" (measuring levels of distress, anxiety, depression, anger, and perceived quality of life), the National Institute of Health NIH emotional support scale, and the NIH caregiver assessment (care partner burnout). For people living with dementia, participation significantly increased perceived quality of life while decreasing distress, anxiety, depression, and anger (p < .01; n = 12) after each class; however, the intervention did not significantly impact perceived emotional support. For care partners, participation significantly lowered post-intervention measures of burnout and self-rated stress (p < .01; n = 9). This preliminary study suggests that a structured art-based activity appears to positively impact acute mood for patients and, importantly, decrease care partner burnout. Future research can bring more robust methods to bear in determining how to use OMA and other arts interventions to optimize social support for people living with dementia and their care partners.
摘要:
对于痴呆症患者及其护理伙伴来说,有效沟通能力的下降会导致严重的痛苦。然而,近几十年来,艺术已成为一种有效的护理方式,可以促进语言技能下降和记忆丧失的人的交流和表达。通过艺术开放思想(OMA)是一项国家倡议,通过与训练有素的大学生志愿者合作,通过艺术创作促进创造性表达和社会参与,从而赋予痴呆症患者权力。研究表明,参与该计划有利于痴呆症患者的生活质量,并改善学生对痴呆症的态度。迄今为止,然而,没有涉及初级保健合作伙伴的研究。我们在州立大学的三个养老院实施了OMA计划,宾夕法尼亚,居民与初级保健伙伴共同创作艺术品(即,家庭成员或初级医务人员)在四次艺术创作课程中。我们评估了参与对生活质量和护理伴侣倦怠的影响,通过pre-post使用“情绪温度计”(测量痛苦水平,焦虑,抑郁症,愤怒,和感知的生活质量),美国国立卫生研究院情感支持量表,和NIH护理人员评估(护理伙伴倦怠)。对于痴呆症患者来说,参与显着提高了感知的生活质量,同时减少了痛苦,焦虑,抑郁症,和愤怒(p<0.01;n=12);然而,干预没有显著影响感知的情绪支持.对于护理伙伴来说,参与显着降低了干预后的倦怠和自我评估压力措施(p<.01;n=9)。这项初步研究表明,结构化的基于艺术的活动似乎对患者的急性情绪产生积极影响,重要的是,减少护理伴侣倦怠。未来的研究可以带来更强大的方法来确定如何使用OMA和其他艺术干预措施来优化痴呆症患者及其护理伙伴的社会支持。