A therapy dog's impact on daytime activity and night-time sleep for older persons with Alzheimer's disease : a case study

Background: Animal-Assisted Therapy using dogs have been described as having a calming effect, decrease sundowning and blood-pressure in persons with Alzheimer’s disease. The aim was to investigate how continuous and scheduled visits by a prescribed therapy dog affected daytime and night-time sleep for persons with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: In this case study, registration of activity and sleep curves was conducted from five persons with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease living at a nursing home, over a period of 16 weeks using an Actiwatch. Data was analysed with descriptive statistics. Result: The study shows no clear pattern of effect on individual persons daytime activity and sleep when encounter with a therapy dog, but instead points to a great variety of possible different effects that brings an increased activity at different time points, for example during night-time sleep. Conclusions: Effects from the use of a Animal-Assisted Therapy with a dog in the care of persons with Alzheimer’s disease needs to be further investigated and analysed from a personcentred view including both daytime and nightime activities.

Sjuksköterskans upplevelse av att ge personcentrerad vård till personer med demenssjukdom : En litteraturstudie

Background: Dementia impairs cognitive functions, such as memory and speech, changing a person’s life forever. Providing person-centred care to these persons intend to retain their identities, dignity and autonomy. Such care demands time, devotion and good knowledge of the caring nurse. Dementia is expected to increase in the future and therefore nurses will have to face new challenges. Aim: To describe nurses’ experience of providing person-centred care for people with dementia. Method: A literature review of 15 articles, published between 2009-2016, that have been read and analysed through content-analysis. Results: Nurses experience a positive change in their attitudes, when providing person-centred care to people with dementia, as they gained better understanding of their patients’ dignity and integrity. Education, training and support from management were seen as key factors for providing up-to-date care. Time was viewed as a hindrance for person-centred care, and often led to nurses prioritizing other routines. Two common outcomes of person-centred care were increased satisfaction as well as emotional burnout. Conclusion: Since dementia is increasing and nurses find person-centred care time-consuming, there is a risk of such care becoming poor. To prevent this nurses need good leadership and education.

Effekter av icke-farmakologiska metoder vid beteendemässiga och psykiska symtom hos personer som lever med Alzheimers sjukdom : En litteraturöversikt

Bakgrund: Alzheimers sjukdom (AD) är den vanligaste formen av demenssjukdomar och antalet människor som insjuknar i AD förväntas öka kraftigt med tiden. Dessutom kännetecknas personer med AD ofta av beteendemässiga och psykiska symtom (BPSD) som kan innefatta agitation, depression, vanföreställningar, oro, ångest, hallucinationer, sömnrubbningar, rastlöshet och apati. Dessa symtom kan orsaka lidande hos patienten och är svåra att hantera för både vårdgivaren och anhöriga, samt försvårar omvårdnadsarbetet. Syftet var att beskriva icke-farmakologiska metoder och effekter av dessa metoder vid omvårdnad av personer med Alzheimers sjukdom som har beteendemässiga och psykiska symtom. Metod: En litteraturöversikt bestående av 16 utvalda kvantitativa forskningsartiklar har genomförts. Artiklarna publicerades mellan år 2006-2016. Resultat. De studerade icke-farmakologiska metoderna var musikterapi, vissa typer av massage, reminiscence-terapi, vårdhundterapi och ljusterapi. Resultaten visade att icke-farmakologiska metoder kan ha en varierande effekt på BPSD. Litteraturöversikten visade att musikintervention var mest effektiv för att minska agitationsbeteende. Individualiserad musik i samband med speciella minnen minskade stress, fobier hos personer med svår demens. Intervention av handmassage, aromaterapi, taktil massage och terapeutisk beröring minskade aggression och agitationsbeteende. Vissa studier visade dock att fotmassageintervention och vårdhundterapi kunde öka verbal aggressivitet hos personer med demens, medan en annan studie visade att djurassisterade aktiviteter kunde minska nedstämdhet medan glädje och generell uppmärksamhet ökade. Effekten av ljusbehandling var förbättrad sömn, minskad depression, agitation och ätstörningar. Slutsats. Icke-farmakologiska metoder kan minska beteendemässiga och psykiska symtom hos personer med Alzheimers sjukdom, dock med varierande effekt. De varierande resultaten kan tolkas som att icke-farmakologiska metoder bör individanpassas och att det behövs vidare forskning inom området.