Date: Wednesday 12 December 2018, 11.30am - 12.30pm
Location: Room B28 Yang Fujia Building (please see map https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/sharedresources/documents/mapjubileecampus.pdf )
Speaker: Professor Victoria Tischler, Professor of Arts and Health / Head of Dementia Care Centre, University of West London and Federica d’Andrea, PhD student, University of West London
Title: Using olfactory stimulation: multi-sensory interventions for people with dementia
Abstract:
Multi-sensory interventions have received great interest within the field of dementia treatment, particularly for the management of the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. The aim of this approach is to stimulate senses through a combination of visual, auditory, olfactory and tactile stimuli. The sensory modalities most used in multi-sensory interventions for people with dementia have been limited to visual, auditory, and tactile sensations, with less attention to olfaction. This is despite the presence of theoretical literature showing the close relationship between olfaction, memory and emotional process. Therefore, smells through emotional processes can modulate mood and behaviour.
This study builds on previous studies using Boots UK archive items in a care home and archival research identifying objects with high therapeutic potential. The current study will address the current gaps in the literature using a mixed-method study of olfactory stimulation incorporating object handling.
Aim: Develop and test the feasibility of a multi-sensory intervention, using olfactory, tactile and visualstimulation for people with dementia living in a care home, as a means of improving quality of life, cognition, communication and behaviour.
Objectives:
- Conduct a realist review to understand how, why, to what extent, for whom and in what circumstances do multi-sensory interventions work for people with dementia.
- Conduct a scoping review on the effectiveness and procedures used in object handling interventions.
- Develop a theoretically underpinned multi-sensory intervention for people with dementia, incorporating selected archival objects and odours.
- To conduct a feasibility study in a care home for people living with dementia.
Method: The study will involve people with mild to moderate dementia living in a residential home andcare staff. A range of odours and objects from the Boots UK archive collection will be used to encourage conversation in a group setting.
The primary outcome will be quality of life for care home residents living with dementia, measured by the Dementia Quality of Life Instrument (DQoL), the secondary outcomes will be communication, cognition and behaviour, measured by the Holden Communication Scale (HCS), Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire (NPI-Q) respectively. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews with care staff and people with dementia will be carried out, during and following the intervention.