Ambient Activities for an Aging Population
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Residents affected by dementia in long term care (LTC) facilities often experience a lack of engagement and interaction. Whether it is due to the strain put on LTC workers, or extenuating circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic, this lack of stimulation can lead to disruptive behaviours and can impact their emotional well-being. Dr. Rose McCloskey and her team investigated the use of a non-pharmacological approach to increase resident stimulation in LTC facilities, and to reduce challenging behaviours displayed by residents with dementia at the Loch Lomond Villa nursing home in Saint John, NB. This approach was in the form of ABBY, an interactive computer display developed by Ambient Activity Technologies (Lignos).
Figure 1. ABBY (Via Dr. McCloskey)
ABBY provides residents with engaging activities that are familiar to them. As can be seen in figure 1, some of the experiences ABBY mimics include petting a cat, using a steering wheel, and flipping switches. Additionally, the screen within ABBY can show images familiar to the residents and play videos and music that they may recognize; examples include music from the era and landmark pictures from the Saint John area. ABBY is also programmed to offer touch screen games that work to keep the residents engaged, improve their dexterity, and increase the duration of their physical activity. Another feature of ABBY can add a personal touch to the content displayed to each particular resident. Some of the residents involved with the study had a beacon with them, which communicated with ABBY to display personalized media content (including some of their favourite music, family pictures and home videos) as they walked by, creating another layer of stimulation.
Figure 2. Beacon (Via Dr. McCloskey)
Recreational activities are the most prominent form of stimulation for many residents in LTC settings, especially when loved ones cannot always visit. However, these activities rely on the availability of the recreation staff, typically during normal working hours, and the quantity of staff available (Lignos). The staff-to-resident ratio creates a difficult scenario to keep residents engaged on a daily basis, and sometimes requires staff to use their time to redirect residents to engage in a more meaningful activity. While the main goal of ABBY is to engage the residents with meaningful experiences, it also cascades to different levels of care by reducing the caregiver burden. McCloskey’s research examines the qualitative impact of ABBY on the well-being of the residents, their family members, and the staff of LTC facilities. ABBY was placed in high-traffic hallways in two different units of the nursing homes for the residents to have easy access. The project had the participation of 35 residents, 17 staff members and 11 family members to determine ABBY’s success as a therapeutic device, and see if there was an increase in the satisfaction of staff and family members (Lignos, 2020).
Dr. McCloskey says ABBY has “the potential to be most impactful,” and the implications of her research justify her point. Residents are able to use ABBY independently and do not require assistance, but it is versatile so that the residents can also have something for them to engage in when their loved-ones come to visit. It is a source of meaningful activities, and when personalized, can go to the next level by helping them reinforce their personal identities and helping to build confidence in an environment where they have lost much of their independence.
ABBY offers an innovative solution to the reality of everyday life in LTC facilities. Despite the good intentions of those around them, the combination of the aging population, the shortage of staff, and limited windows of recreation activities, indicates that the situation of keeping residents engaged will continue to worsen. The stimuli offered by ABBY can increase the engagement of the residents while offering support to staff and providing meaningful activities that can help to increase the residents’ quality of life. The impact of ABBY on their well being is best illustrated with the opinion of one of the residents:
“I'm on a grief loss journey, like a lot of us are here and so when I see the pictures, it really brings back to me not necessarily to "the resident” but to me, the journey that we've had over the years.” -A079 (Lignos, 2020, p. 25)
The research being conducted by Dr. Rose McCloskey and her team shows great promise with regard to the potential of Ambient Activity Technology within the LTC setting, and offers an exciting and innovative solution to the current problem.
References
Ambient Activity Technologies. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2021, from http://www.ambientactivity.com/abby/
Lignos, N., Herrington, M., BSc, McCloskey, R., RN, PhD, Donovan, C., RN, MSA, Jbilou, J., PhD, El Bouazaoui, A., BEng, . . . Chignell, M., PhD. (n.d.). Use of Ambient Activity Technology in Residents Living with Dementia. Retrieved from https://lochlomondvilla.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ABBY-poster.pdf
Lignos, N., Herrington, M., BSc, McCloskey, R., RN, PhD, Donovan, C., RN, MSA, Jbilou, J., PhD, El Bouazaoui, A., BEng, . . . Chignell, M., PhD. (2020). The Use of Ambient Activity Technology in Residents Living with Dementia. Manuscript in preparation.