Article

An exploratory study of their activities and participation. PURPOSE: To describe the activities and participation of people with dementia
living in long-term care facilities. METHODS: An exploratory descriptive study
with 329 people medically diagnosed with dementia was conducted in the central
region of Portugal. Socio-demographics were collected with a questionnaire based
on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and
Health-Checklist. Cognitive impairment was measured with the Mini-Mental State
Examination (MMSE) and the activities and participation were described with the
World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0).
RESULTS: Participants mean age was 83.6 +/- 7.1 years old. Most were female
(79.6%), widows (60.8%), had 1-4 years of education (51.1%) and were living in a
long-term care facility from 2 to 4 years (36.2%). Alzheimer's disease (41.9%)
was the most prevalent type of dementia. According to the MMSE, the cognitive
status was low (8.7 +/- 7.9) and 61.7% had severe cognitive impairment. The MMSE
scores were negatively correlated with the WHODAS 2.0 scores. Mobility was the
most affected domain of WHODAS 2.0. The total score showed that 77.8% of the
sample was severely limited in activities and restricted in participation.
CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that people with dementia living in long-term care
facilities have severe activities limitation and participation restriction.
However, most residents understand what people say, eat by themselves and get
along with people who are close to them. This information on disability is
crucial to plan health resources and inform rehabilitation programmes tailored to
individuals' functionality. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION: People with dementia
living in long-term care facilities have severe activities limitation and
participation restriction. Rehabilitation through engagement in activities and
enhancement of participation seems to be crucial for this population. A
multidimensional characterisation of activities and participation is recommended
to inform the design and implementation of rehabilitation. Mobility was the most
affected domain, highlighting the need for specific rehabilitation, as mobility
restrictions are associated with residents' dependency and caregivers' burden.

Langue : ANGLAIS