LEAD IT! An App to Enable Persons with Early Stage Dementia to Lead Group Activities for Their Peers

Project Summary AbstractBehavioral disturbances are consistently reported to be among the most stressful aspects of providing care to persons with dementiaPWDPWD also often undergo an existential crisisespecially in the early stagesas they feel a loss of purpose in lifeThis is unfortunatebecause many skills remainespecially for persons in the early stages of dementiaPESDAlsomany PESD maintain a desire to be altruisticWhile the remaining strengths of PESD have been known for some timefew opportunities for meaningful social roles existso there is a need to create interventions that enable PESD to fill such rolesSince many PESD reside in long term careLTCthe role of group activity leader would be a natural starting point for a social roleTo this endMrSkrajnerPImanaged two studies in which PESD served as group activity leaders for other PWDThese studies demonstrated thatPESD can successfully serve as activity leaders if appropriate materials processes are usedresident led programming produced higher levels of positive engagement and lower levels of negative engagement than staff led activitiesin other wordsPESD were more effective than staffminimaltrainingis needed for the resident leaders and all training must occuron the floorleaders found the roles meaningfulandchallenging behaviors were reduced in some leadersIt should be noted that resident led activities materials were hard copy in natureand the program was never commercialized or disseminated on a large scaleGiven the success of resident led programmingthe increased prevalence of dementiaand the push for early detection of dementiathere is an urgent need and strong commercialization potential for a product that enables PESD to serve as group leaders in resident led activitiesThereforethe overall objective of this project is to develop and evaluate a tablet based app called LEAD IT!which will enable PESD to implement resident led programmingThe Specific Aims of the proposed project are todevelop an Alpha Version of LEAD IT! with sufficient content to facilitate LEAD IT! twice per week for six weeksexamine the extent to which Resident LeadersRLsare able to serve as activity leaders while using LEAD IT! andexamine the effects of resident led LEAD IT! programming on Player ParticipantsThe proximalimmediateeffects of LEAD IT! The Phaseproject will lay the groundwork for a Phaseproject in whichan improved LEAD IT! app will be created based upon lessons learned in Phasethree additional LEAD IT! activity types will be createdadditional content for all activities will be createdi esufficient content for four monthsandresearchers will examine the effects of implementing resident led programming over a longer time Project Narrative An estimatedmillion Americans are currently suffering from Alzheimer s diseaseADbesides affecting the person with the conditionAD also presents a public health concerndue to the significant cost required to care for persons with dementiaPWDand to the mental and physical stress placed upon caregiversSothere is an urgent need for products and programs that improve the quality of life of PWD and reduce challenging behaviorsThrough the development and evaluation of an app that enables persons with early stage dementia to lead activities for their peersother persons with dementiathe proposed project will help meet this need