Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-20T10:47:52.422Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Social interactions between people with dementia: pilot evaluation of an observational instrument in a nursing home

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2016

Jean-Bernard Mabire*
Affiliation:
Université Paris Ouest, EA 4430, Nanterre, France Fondation de Rothschild, Paris, 75012, France Hôpital Léopold Bellan, Paris, 75014, France
Marie-Claire Gay
Affiliation:
Université Paris Ouest, EA 4430, Nanterre, France
Pierre Vrignaud
Affiliation:
Université Paris Ouest, EA 4430, Nanterre, France
Catherine Garitte
Affiliation:
Université Paris Ouest, EA 4430, Nanterre, France
Myrra Vernooij-Dassen
Affiliation:
Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands Kalorama Foundation, Beek-Ubbergen, the Netherlands
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Jean-Bernard Mabire, Fondation de Rothschild, 76, Rue de Picpus, 75012 Paris, France. Phone: +0033-1-44-68-46-36. Email: [email protected].
Get access

Abstract

Background:

In dementia, cognitive and psychological disorders might interfere with maintaining social interactions. We have little information about the nature of these interactions of people with dementia in nursing homes. The aim of this study is to investigate social interactions between people with dementia and to validate an observation grid of them.

Methods:

Fifty-six institutionalized people with dementia took part in this study. Residents had not met beforehand and were divided into groups of four to six. Social behaviors were videotaped and analyzed by two independent raters with an observation grid measuring frequency of occurrence. The ethogram was the conceptual tool that became the Social Observation Behaviors Residents Index (SOBRI).

Results:

Two-thousand-six-hundred-seventy instances of behavior were collected. Behaviors directed at others represented 50.90% and self-centered behaviors 47.83%. No negative behaviors were observed. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to validate the SOBRI and showed two components of social behaviors that explained about 30.56% of the total variance: social interactions with other residents (18.36%) and with care staff (12.20%). The grid showed a good internal consistency with a Cronbach's α of 0.90 for the first component and 0.85 for the second one.

Conclusions:

The SOBRI presents robust psychometric validity. This pilot study indicates that people with dementia spontaneously interact with other residents. These results contradict the stigma of non-communication and the stereotypes about dementia. More studies and validations are needed to contribute to the knowledge of social interactions in dementia.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexopoulos, G. S., Abrams, R. C., Young, R. C. and Shamoian, C. A. (1988). Cornell scale for depression in dementia. Biological Psychiatry, 23, 271284. doi: 10.1016/0006-3223(88)90038-8.Google Scholar
Amieva, H., Stoykova, R., Matharan, F., Helmer, C., Antonucci, T. C. and Dartigues, J.-F. (2010). What aspects of social network are protective for dementia? Not the quantity but the quality of social interactions is protective up to 15 years later. Psychosomatic Medicine, 72, 905911. doi:10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181f5e121.Google Scholar
Barberger-Gateau, P., Commenges, D., Gagnon, M., Letenneur, L., Sauvel, C. and Dartigues, J. F. (1992). Instrumental activities of daily living as a screening tool for cognitive impairment and dementia in elderly community dwellers. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 40, 11291134.Google Scholar
Beaugrand, J. (1988). Observation directe du comportement. In Robert, M. (ed.), Fondements et Étapes de La Recherche Scientifique en Psychlogie (pp. 277310). Maloine, Paris.Google Scholar
Bowie, P. and Mountain, G. (1993). Using direct observation to record the behaviour of long-stay patients with dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 8, 857864. doi: 10.1002/gps.930081009.Google Scholar
Camus, V., Schmitt, L., Ousset, P. J. and Micas, M. (1995). Depression and dementia: contribution to the French validation of 2 depression scales: the cornell scale for depression in dementia and the dementia mood assessment scale. Encephale, 21, 201208.Google Scholar
Canter Kohn, R. and Nègre, P. (1991). Les Voies De l'observation. Repères Pour Les Pratiques de Recherche en Sciences Humaines. Nathan, Paris.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, 3746. doi:10.1177/001316446002000104.Google Scholar
Cummings, J. L., Mega, M., Gray, K., Rosenberg-Thompson, S., Carusi, D. A. and Gornbein, J. (1994). The neuropsychiatric inventory: comprehensive assessment of psychopathology in dementia. Neurology, 44, 23082314. doi:10.1212/WNL.44.12.2308.Google Scholar
Dean, R., Proudfoot, R. and Lindesay, J. (1993). The quality of interactions schedule (QUIS): development, reliability and use in the evaluation of two domus units. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 8, 819826. doi:10.1002/gps.930081004.Google Scholar
Di Notte, D., Ylieff, M. and Fontaine, O. (2000). Qualité De Vie et Personnes Démentes (Intérim Report). Qualidem, Université de Liège.Google Scholar
Doron, R. and Parot, F. (2011). Dictionnaire De Psychologie, 3rd ed., Quadrige dicos poche. Puf, Paris.Google Scholar
Eastment, H. T. and Krzanowski, W. J. (1982). Cross-validatory choice of the number of components from a principal component analysis. Technometrics, 24, 7377. doi:10.1080/00401706.1982.10487712.Google Scholar
Eriksson, L., Johansson, E., Kettaneh-Wold, N., Trygg, J., Wikström, C. and Wold, S. (2006). Multi- and Megavariate Data Analysis. Second Revised and Enlarged Edition. Umea, Sweden: Umetrics Academy.Google Scholar
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E. and McHugh, P. R. (1975). “Mini-mental state”. A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189198. doi:10.1016/0022-3956(75)90026-6.Google Scholar
Innes, A. and Surr, C. (2001). Measuring the well-being of people with dementia living in formal care settings: the use of dementia care mapping. Aging & Mental Health, 5, 258268. doi:10.1080/13607860120065023.Google Scholar
Kalafat, M., Hugonot-Diener, L. and Poitrenaud, J. (2003). Standardisation et étalonnage français du Mini Mental State (MMS) version GRECO. Revue de Neuropsychologie, 13, 209236.Google Scholar
Landis, J. R. and Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33, 159174.Google Scholar
Lawton, M. P. and Brody, E. M. (1969). Assessment of older people: self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. The Gerontologist, 9, 179186. doi:10.1093/geront/9.3_Part_1.179.Google Scholar
Macdonald, A. J., Craig, T. K. and Warner, L. A. (1985). The development of a short observation method for the study of the activity and contacts of old people in residential settings. Psychological Medicine, 15, 167172. doi:10.1017/S0033291700021036.Google Scholar
MacRae, H. (2011). Self and other: the importance of social interaction and social relationships in shaping the experience of early-stage Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Aging Studies, 25, 445456. doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2011.06.001.Google Scholar
Parsons-Suhl, K., Johnson, M. E., McCann, J. J. and Solberg, S. (2008). Losing one's memory in early Alzheimer's disease. Qualitative Health Research, 18, 3142. doi:10.1177/1049732307308987.Google Scholar
Rabins, P. V., Kasper, J. D., Kleinman, L., Black, B. S. and Patrick, D. L. (1999). Concepts and methods in the development of the ADRQL: an instrument for assessing health-related quality of life in persons with Alzheimer's disease. Journal of Mental Health and Aging, 5, 3348.Google Scholar
Rousseaux, M., Demacourt, A., Wyrzykowski, N. and Lefeuvre, M. (2001). TLC: Test Lillois de Communication. Isbergues: Ortho Edition.Google Scholar
Rousseaux, M., Sève, A., Vallet, M., Pasquier, F. and Mackowiak-Cordoliani, M. A. (2010). An analysis of communication in conversation in patients with dementia. Neuropsychologia, 48, 38843890. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.09.026.Google Scholar
Saunders, P. A., Medeiros, K. de, Doyle, P. and Mosby, A. (2012). The discourse of friendship: mediators of communication among dementia residents in long-term care. Dementia, 11, 347361. doi:10.1177/1471301211421187.Google Scholar
Sisco, F. et al. (2000). Les troubles du comportement chez le sujet dément en institution: Évaluation à partir de l'inventaire neuropsychiatrique pour les équipes soignantes (NPI/ES). L'Année Gérontologique, 14, 151171.Google Scholar
Snyder, L. (2001). The lived experience of Alzheimer's disease: understanding the feelings and subjective accounts of persons with the disease. Alzheimer's Care Today, 2, 822.Google Scholar
Ward, R., Vass, A. A., Aggarwal, N., Garfield, C. and Cybyk, B. (2008). A different story: exploring patterns of communication in residential dementia care. Ageing & Society, 28, 629651. doi:10.1017/S0144686X07006927.Google Scholar
Wold, S., Esbensen, K. and Geladi, P. (1987). Principal component analysis. Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems, 2, 3752. doi:10.1016/0169-7439(87)80084-9.Google Scholar