Supporting Dining Occupations for Dementia Residents in SNFs
Start Date
April 2020
End Date
April 2020
Major Field of Study
Occupational Therapy
Student Type
Graduate
Faculty Mentor(s)
Gina Tucker-Roghi, OTD, OTR/L
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
Abstract
The purpose of this project is to examine the impact of a dining toolkit with environmental and social modifications to enhance dining experiences among individuals with dementia (IwD), caregiver staff, and family members in the SNF setting. Research has shown that the physical and social environment has a direct impact on successful feeding during meal times, however, there is currently a gap in practice in which both the physical and social environment are not utilized in conjunction with one another. In order to address the current gap in practice, a toolkit will be designed to incorporate environmental and social modifications to enhance and support the dining experience for IwD. Suggested environmental and social modifications will include furniture arrangement, room temperature, color contrast, reduced noise, increase natural lighting, developing roles and routines, and items to support interactions between IwD and caregivers. The toolkit will also have virtual training modules, workshops, and an evidence manual to effectively train and provide occupational therapists and caregivers the knowledge and skills they need to implement the toolkit during meal times with IwD. The training will provide various items, information, and instructions with the aim of supporting the dining experience for IwD and reduce caregiver burden for staff and family members during meal times. The impact of the toolkit will be monitored by tracking the IwD’s nutritional intake, weight, and negative behaviors. Additionally, the caregiver’s reduced burden will be evaluated using a likert scale.
Presentation Description
The team will be utilizing a PowerPoint and oral presentation format in order to demonstrate the project’s aim, implementation, and evaluation process. We will provide a brief explanation about the growing prevalence of dementia in society and the importance of an occupational therapist’s role in maintaining the quality of life of IwD, caregiver staff, and family members. In doing so, we will present the training videos that will be created to provide a resource on how to implement the dining toolkit that corresponds to social and environmental modifications to enhance the dining experiences among IwD, caregivers, and family members at Legend Oaks Healthcare and Rehabilitation Facility. To further address the gap in practice, items and suggestions from the dining toolkit will be exemplified through pictures of both physical and social items, the actual SNF environment, and training modules that incorporate all of the aspects of the dining toolkit in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of the project’s aim and implementation. Moreover, we will describe the evaluation process in the presentation by showing an example of outcome measures of the dining toolkit regarding the project’s impact on IwD’s nutritional intake, weight, and negative behaviors, as well as the caregiver’s reduced burden. Together, the multiple components of this presentation will provide a clearer picture of how "Supporting Dining Occupations for Dementia Residents in SNFs" will fill the gap in practice based off of the evidence-based literature and actual implementation of combining social and physical modifications of the dining experience in a SNF.
Keywords: Occupational Therapy, Dementia, Skilled Nursing Facility, Social and Physical Environmental Modifications
Supporting Dining Occupations for Dementia Residents in SNFs
Abstract
The purpose of this project is to examine the impact of a dining toolkit with environmental and social modifications to enhance dining experiences among individuals with dementia (IwD), caregiver staff, and family members in the SNF setting. Research has shown that the physical and social environment has a direct impact on successful feeding during meal times, however, there is currently a gap in practice in which both the physical and social environment are not utilized in conjunction with one another. In order to address the current gap in practice, a toolkit will be designed to incorporate environmental and social modifications to enhance and support the dining experience for IwD. Suggested environmental and social modifications will include furniture arrangement, room temperature, color contrast, reduced noise, increase natural lighting, developing roles and routines, and items to support interactions between IwD and caregivers. The toolkit will also have virtual training modules, workshops, and an evidence manual to effectively train and provide occupational therapists and caregivers the knowledge and skills they need to implement the toolkit during meal times with IwD. The training will provide various items, information, and instructions with the aim of supporting the dining experience for IwD and reduce caregiver burden for staff and family members during meal times. The impact of the toolkit will be monitored by tracking the IwD’s nutritional intake, weight, and negative behaviors. Additionally, the caregiver’s reduced burden will be evaluated using a likert scale.
Presentation Description
The team will be utilizing a PowerPoint and oral presentation format in order to demonstrate the project’s aim, implementation, and evaluation process. We will provide a brief explanation about the growing prevalence of dementia in society and the importance of an occupational therapist’s role in maintaining the quality of life of IwD, caregiver staff, and family members. In doing so, we will present the training videos that will be created to provide a resource on how to implement the dining toolkit that corresponds to social and environmental modifications to enhance the dining experiences among IwD, caregivers, and family members at Legend Oaks Healthcare and Rehabilitation Facility. To further address the gap in practice, items and suggestions from the dining toolkit will be exemplified through pictures of both physical and social items, the actual SNF environment, and training modules that incorporate all of the aspects of the dining toolkit in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of the project’s aim and implementation. Moreover, we will describe the evaluation process in the presentation by showing an example of outcome measures of the dining toolkit regarding the project’s impact on IwD’s nutritional intake, weight, and negative behaviors, as well as the caregiver’s reduced burden. Together, the multiple components of this presentation will provide a clearer picture of how "Supporting Dining Occupations for Dementia Residents in SNFs" will fill the gap in practice based off of the evidence-based literature and actual implementation of combining social and physical modifications of the dining experience in a SNF.
Keywords: Occupational Therapy, Dementia, Skilled Nursing Facility, Social and Physical Environmental Modifications
Comments
This presentation was accepted for the Scholarly and Creative Works Conference at Dominican University of California. The Conference was canceled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic