Elder‐Clowning in Long‐Term Dementia Care: Results of a Pilot Study

Abstract

Results suggest that elder-clowning reduced moderate to severe BPSD of nursing home residents with dementia, primarily of the Alzheimer's type. Elder-clowning is a promising intervention that may improve Alzheimer's disease care for nursing home residents.

Relational citizenship: supporting embodied selfhood and relationality in dementia care

“…, Miller and Kontos , Kontos et al . ). Elder‐clowns received study‐specific training in embodied selfhood drawn from a curriculum developed for dementia care practitioners (Kontos et al .…”

“…the primordial body and socio‐cultural dispositions as the primary agential source of interactive and communicative practices for persons living with dementia) are necessary to more inclusively grant citizenship entitlements to persons living with dementia in long‐term residential care (Miller and Kontos , Kontos et al . ). Our intent here, by extension, is to examine the complex issue of how relational citizenship can be supported at the micro level of direct care.…”

“…Empirical evidence from our study on elder‐clown practice (Kontos et al . , ) is used as a heuristic to illustrate strategies and techniques that support and undermine relational citizenship. The intent is to prompt discussion on how relational citizenship can be supported by all members of a long‐term care team.…”

Social health and dementia: a European consensus on the operationalization of the concept and directions for research and practice

“…educational activities for young people (Park, 2014), small-scale homelike care environments (Charras, 2011;Verbeek et al, 2014), and green care farms (de Bruin et al, 2009). Other effective interventions concern specific and meaningful activitiessuch as activities using pets, dolls, singing in chorus, listening or making music, dance, theatre, many different types of creative art work and museum visit programmes, or clowns (Kontos et al, 2016;van Dijk et al, 2012;Van Mierlo et al, 2010)or are multi-component, focusing on improving social support or mobilizing the social network (Dam, de Vugt, Klinkenberg, Verhey, & van Boxtel, 2016). Furthermore, design guidelines have been developed to increase 'dementia-friendliness' of environments at home (Gitlin et al, 2009;Gitlin et al, 2006), local neighbourhoods (Mitchell & Burton, 2006) and long-term care institutions (Fleming & Purandare, 2010).…”

A systematic review of non-pharmacological interventions for BPSD in nursing home residents with dementia: from a perspective of ergonomics

“…However, the sample size of this trial was too small to calculate the significance. Clowning Therapy was evaluated by a trial of hierarchy IV (Kontos et al, 2016). The elder clowns visited the nursing home regularly to entertain the PwD for 12 weeks and reported that BPSD was reduced significantly after the intervention.…”