Effectiveness of the Biography and Life Storybook for Nursing Home Residents: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

There are currently limited studies that have examined the use of the biography and life storybook (BLSB) among the Asian older adult populations in the long-term care setting. This quasi-experimental study aimed to examine its impact on life satisfaction scores, depression, and quality of life among nursing home residents in Singapore. Two wards were assigned to either the intervention or control group. The intervention group was assigned to the BLSB intervention, which comprised eight nurse-facilitated structured sessions over three months and their usual daily activities, whereas the control group was assigned to the routine activities. A total of 74 nursing home residents completed the study, with 37 in each group. The BLSB intervention improved depression, quality of life, and life satisfaction for nursing home residents in Singapore, with significant results observed across all three outcomes over the 3-month period. The study findings support the use of BLSB as an effective reminiscence-based intervention for older adults in an Asian nursing home setting.

Narrative Care and Engagement in Social and Health Care: Enhancing Identity with a Small Story Approach

“…Some of these initiatives were taking place at an organizational level, though the majority were being carried out by the recreation department with residents. Some examples of big story approaches included: auto or biographical work being completed during the transition to living in the home to provide "background stories" on the individuals to help improve care (see Clarke, 2000;Thompson, 2011), reminiscent (the recall of past experiences) workshops (see MacLeod et al, 2021;Randall, 1986;Cooney et al, 2014), guided autobiographical work (see Doraisamy et al, 2022;Birren, 2006;Birren & Cochran, 200), object prompting narrative circles (where an object is shared/shown such as an old telephone, a kitchen utensil, a tool, etc. and each person shares any memories the object elicits for them) (see, Buse & Twigg, 2016;Phenice & Griforre, 2013;), music as a memory prompt (see Sedikides et al, 2022), and others (Kindell et al, 2014).…”