Strategies for Person-Centered Dementia Care
Author Information
Author(s): Kim Yoon Chung, Lepore Michael, Kusmaul Nancy, Holmes Sarah
Primary Institution: University of Maryland Baltimore
Hypothesis
What strategies do staff use to support person-centered dementia care and do these differ by length of tenure?
Conclusion
Staff with shorter tenure showed more emotional attachment to residents, while those with longer tenure exhibited emotional detachment.
Supporting Evidence
- Approximately half of nursing home residents have a diagnosis of dementia.
- Staff reported a mean length of tenure in LTC of 8.97 years.
- Common strategies included validating emotional needs and building trust.
Takeaway
This study looked at how caregivers help people with dementia and found that newer staff tend to care more emotionally than those who have been there longer.
Methodology
In-depth semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of direct care workers.
Limitations
The study was conducted in low-resource settings and may not represent all LTC environments.
Participant Demographics
Direct care workers in four low-resource LTC settings across two states.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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