Meaningful activities for improving the wellbeing of people with dementia: beyond mere pleasure to meeting fundamental psychological needs

Abstract

Aims: Dementia is being increasingly recognised as a major public health issue for our ageing populations. A critical aspect of supporting people with dementia is facilitating their participation in meaningful activities. However, research to date has not drawn on theories of ageing from developmental psychology that would help undergird the importance of such meaningful activity. For the first time, we connect existing activity provision for people with dementia with developmental psychology theories of ageing. Results: The narrative review highlights that activity provision for people with dementia goes beyond mere pleasure to meeting fundamental psychological needs. More specifically, that: life review therapy and life story work addresses the need for life review; spiritual / religious activities addresses the need for death preparation; intergenerational activities addresses the need for intergenerational relationships; re-acquaintance with previously-conducted leisure activities addresses the need for a sense of control and to achieve life goals; and pursuit of new leisure activities addresses the need to be creative. The systematic searches identified two studies that demonstrated the utility of applying Erikson's theory of psychosocial development to dementia care.Conclusions: We argue for the importance of activity provision for people with dementia to help promote wellbeing amongst an increasing proportion of older people.

Enjoyable, engaging and individualised: A concept analysis of meaningful activity for older adults with dementia

“…Activities are made meaningful through feelings of enjoyment and pleasure (Eakman, , ; Eakman, Carlson, & Clark, ; Kuosa et al, ; Vernooij‐Dassen, ). Enjoyment can be experienced during activity participation (Nyman & Szymczynska, ; Roland & Chappell, ), when looking forward to an activity (Roland & Chappell, ) or enjoyment of the outcome of an activity (Bishop & Purcell, ). Activities may be enjoyed for various reasons such as being a hobby (Bishop & Purcell, ), a means of relaxation (Bishop & Purcell, ; Han et al, ) or a connection to personal identity (Carless, ; Han et al, ; Milte et al, ).…”

“…A person with declining abilities may seem reluctant to participate in an activity that was previously meaningful to them (Harmer & Orrell, ). However, adapting an activity or providing support to suit current needs and abilities can ease fears of failure and enable the person to cope with their health‐related losses while continuing to find meaning in the activity (Harmer & Orrell, ; Nyman & Szymczynska, ).…”

Systematic review of behaviour change techniques to promote participation in physical activity among people with dementia

“…Implications for policy and practice PWD are to be encouraged and facilitated to participate in appropriate forms of physical activity as part of a public health strategy and for PWD to continue to enjoy quality of life (Bowes et al, 2013;Ginis et al, 2017;Nyman & Szymczynska, 2016). Similar to a previous systematic review of qualitative studies conducted with people with physical impairments and mobility limitations (Williams, Ma, & Martin Ginis, 2017), we found that a combination of goal (goal setting (behaviour)), support (social support (unspecified)), and communication (using a credible source) strategies would be promising for promotion of physical activity among PWD.…”

The effect of animal assisted therapy on participants with dementia in a community respite program

“…[4] Although not every activity will appeal to every older person nor should the older person be engaged in a stimulating activity all the time, there is a need to facilitate participation in meaningful activities. [11] Persons living with dementia often lack opportunities especially with daytime activities and social companionship. [12] Han et al completed a synthesis of 34 qualitative studies.…”