The Nursing Assistants use of Recreational Interventions for behavioral management of residents with Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Working under a Small Business Innovative Research grant from the National Institutes of Health, Cross Creek Recreational Products, Inc., explored the feasibility of Nursing Assistants using Recreational Interventions to manage the agitated behavior of nursing home residents with senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type. The use of these Recreational Interventions to engage residents during their unstructured time was also explored. The Recreational Interventions included manipulatives, sorting, sewing, music, nurturing, and tactile stimulatives. The study's multi-method approach consisted of rating residents on an agitation checklist, pre-and post-intervention interviews of nursing staff, in-service staff training and formal and informal observations of the use of Recreational Interventions by residents and Nursing Assistants. This study found that Recreational Interventions are useful adjuncts in the handling of the agitation and boredom of the Alzheimer patient. The research also indicated that careful attention must be paid to the selection and storage of the Recreational Interventions, as well as the training and motivation of the Nursing Assistants.