A Tablet ‐ Based Intervention for Activating Nursing Home Residents with Dementia: Results from a Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: Non-pharmacological interventions (NPI) can improve cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms in nursing home residents living with dementia. However, delivery of suitable NPI can be challenging in everyday nursing home settings. Internet and communication technologies (ICT) may be promising tools for supporting NPI delivery in nursing homes. Methods: A two-arm cluster-randomised controlled trial was conducted to investigate global and momentary effects of a novel ICT-based NPI for nursing home residents with dementia. Ten nursing homes were randomly allocated to the tablet-based intervention (TBI) or conventional activity sessions (CAS) group (each with five nursing homes) between April 2016 and May 2017. A total of N = 162 participants received either regular TBI (n = 80) or CAS (n = 82) over a period of eight weeks. Linear mixed models were used to analyse group differences regarding the primary outcome apathy (AES-I), and secondary outcomes quality of life (QOL-AD, QUALIDEM), neuropsychiatric (NPI-NH, psychotropic medication) and depressive symptoms (GDS). Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMA) of quality of life were also conducted in both groups before and after each activity session.Results: No significant group difference in the change of apathy (AES-I score, primary outcome) was found post intervention (mean group difference: B = .19; 95% CI: -3.90 to 4.28, p = .93). Regarding secondary outcomes, a reduction of psychotropic medication was found for TBI compared to CAS (B = .42; 95% CI: .15 to .69, p < .01). Further analyses revealed a post-intervention improvement of informant-rated quality of life across both groups (B = 3.69; 95% CI: .68 to 6.69, p = .02). Analysis of EMA also rendered short-term post-session improvements of quality of life in the CAS group (B = .43; 95% CI: .30 to .57, p < .001). Conclusions: These findings suggest that NPI involving individually tailored activities have a beneficial impact on quality of life in nursing home residents with dementia. Although we found no clear advantage of TBI compared to CAS, ICT have the potential to support NPI delivery and facilitate regular assessments of fluctuating momentary states in nursing home residents with dementia. Trial registration: The trial was retrospectively registered with the ISRCTN registry (Trial registration number: ISRCTN98947160) on 01/09/2016 http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN98947160.