The use of life stories and its influence on persons with dementia, their relatives and staff – a systematic mixed studies review

Abstract

BackgroundDementia is an important predictor of nursing home admissions. Due to progressive dementia symptoms, over time it becomes difficult for persons with dementia to communicate their wishes and participate in decisions concerning their everyday lives. Their well-being, sense of dignity, integrity and personhood are at risk. The persons’ life stories have been highlighted as particularly important in dementia care and are referred to as seeing the person beyond the dementia. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the use of life stories and its influence on persons with dementia living in nursing homes, their relatives and staff.MethodsA systematic mixed studies review was conducted. The literature searches were performed in the following databases: CINAHL, PubMed and PsycINFO and the Cochrane library, as well as by hand searching references in the studies included. An updated search was performed eight months after the first search. Data was synthesised inspired by integrative analysis.ResultsThree studies using quantitative design and two studies (presented in three papers) using qualitative design representing research from 2006 to 2015 were included in the review. Life stories generally had a positive influence on the persons with dementia, their relatives, and staff. The use of life stories might contribute to ‘Maintenance of the person with dementia as a whole person rather than a demented patient’. On the other hand, enabling persons with dementia to tell their own story could be a challenge. For the staff it could be challenging when sensitive information emerged uninvited. Involving relatives could also be difficult as to whose story were uncovered.ConclusionsThe use of person’s life story might be of significance, but there is not enough evidence to make any statement about its importance as the research is scarce. Studies, including randomised controlled trials, are needed to measure the impact of life story work on the physiological and psychological aspects of persons with dementia, and also how it influences their relatives and staff.

Emotional safety of people living with dementia: a systematic review

“…Biographical, demographic and socioeconomic factors appear to be relevant to perceived emotional safety. Other authors recommend a holistic view of one's life story (Grøndahl et al, 2017;Scholl et al, 2014). However, supporting evidence is lacking (Grøndahl et al, 2017).…”

“…Other authors recommend a holistic view of one's life story (Grøndahl et al, 2017;Scholl et al, 2014). However, supporting evidence is lacking (Grøndahl et al, 2017). Kitwood (1993b, p. 56) described past experiences in the context of interpersonal communication and personality as "a unique cluster of personal resources and psychic defences, formed in situations where the individual has had a sense of power and competence, or of impotence and threat".…”

Life‐story work in long‐term care facilities for older people: An integrative review

“…While life‐story work is seen as beneficial, staff perceived life‐story work as time‐consuming and in reality successful implementation requires organisational support which incorporates a planned approach that includes education and supervision for staff (McKeown, Ryan, Ingleton, & Clarke, ). Although reviews of life‐story work in health and social care (McKeown et al., ), use of life‐story work in dementia (Grøndahl, Persenius, Bååth, & Helgesen, ; Moos & Björn, ) and life‐story resources in dementia (Kindell et al., ) have been conducted, evidence is lacking within the general older person population and confusion exists regarding life‐story work. This confusion is compounded by the use of reminiscence (recalling the past) and life review work which generally involves individual sessions, steering the person through their life experiences to evaluate these experiences (Thorgrimsdottir & Bjornsdottir, ).…”

“…Nonetheless, we are our life stories (Randall, ) and there are many descriptions on how life‐story work should be carried out and templates available to present life‐story work, for example, multimedia, memory boxes, collages, a collection of photographs, or most commonly used a life‐story book (Kindell et al., ). Previous literature reviews (Grøndahl et al., ; Kindell et al., ; McKeown et al., ; Moos & Björn, ) identified issues related to life‐story work, resources used and the need for further research in this area. However, no review has synthesised the evidence on life‐story work relating to older persons since McKeown et al.…”

Psychological outcomes of life story work for community‐dwelling seniors: A randomised controlled trial

“…Yet few of those studies were research-based or evaluative (Grøndahl, Persenius, Bååth, & Helgesen, 2017;McKeown, Clarke, & Repper, 2006). Chung (2009) reported the outcomes of a single group pre-and postexamination of an intergenerational reminiscence program for older adults with early dementia recruited from day care centres and youth volunteers.…”