None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Our pilot project explores the effect of personalised goal-directed activities (Montessori activities) on reducing physical agitation in persons with dementia residing in nursing homes. Many nursing homes organize activities to engage persons with dementia, but due to limited means most activities are group-based and thus can not take an individual’s personal interests or needs into account. Montessori activities are attuned to both a person’s needs and capabilities and will be administered in a one-to-one interaction. So far, little scientific research has been conducted to look at the effect of such individualized interventions. We hypothesize that individual Montessori activities will reduce the frequency of behavioural symptoms of dementia more than a plausible attention control condition. Our study will test this hypothesis using a randomised, repeated-measures design with cross-over between conditions. If our results show that use of Montessori activities is effective in treating challenging behaviours in individuals with dementia, it will potentially provide a safer and more enjoyable intervention rather than reliance on pharmacology alone.
Interventions
A researcher performs one to one, personalised activities (Montessori activities) with the resident for 30 min. for 2 weeks on two occasions during each week. Montessori activities derive from the principles espoused by Maria Montessori and subsequent educational theorists to promote engagement in learning, namely task breakdown, guided repetition, progression in difficulty from simple to complex, and the careful matching of demands to levels of competence and interests of the person involved.
C
A researcher performs one to one, personalised activities (Montessori activities) with the resident for 30 min. for 2 weeks on two occasions during each week. Montessori activities derive from the principles espoused by Maria Montessori and subsequent educational theorists to promote engagement in learning, namely task breakdown, guided repetition, progression in difficulty from simple to complex, and the careful matching of demands to levels of competence and interests of the person involved. Concerning the cross-over design: we will start the other condition in the week after we finish the first.
Sponsors
Monash University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Crossover
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
0 to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
In nursing home facility for at least 3 months. History of moderate to severe dementia. Stable medical, psychological and drugs regime. Agitated (physical) behaviours occur several times an hour on a daily basis and are not associated with activities of daily living (ADL-activities). The behaviours are not due to pain, physical illness, depression or psychosis.
Exclusion criteria
The presence of a acutely life threatening illness. The agitated behaviours are dangerous to researchers.
Outcome results
None listed