Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Dement.
Sec. Dementia Care
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frdem.2024.1444815

Involving family caregivers in addressing challenging behavior in nursing home residents with dementia: Modifying a multidisciplinary method using a realist approach Modifying a multidisciplinary method to address challenging behavior in nursing home residents with dementia to involve family caregivers

Provisionally accepted
Petra Tasseron-Dries Petra Tasseron-Dries 1,2,3*Hanneke Smaling Hanneke Smaling 1,2Jenny Van Der Steen Jenny Van Der Steen 1,4Wilco Achterberg Wilco Achterberg 1,2
  • 1 Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, Netherlands
  • 2 University Network for the Care sector Zuid-Holland, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
  • 3 Other, Zeist, Netherlands
  • 4 Department Primary and Community Care, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Challenging behavior and pain are common in nursing home residents with dementia. Challenging behavior and pain can be related and are stressful for residents, family caregivers and healthcare professionals. The STA OP! method provides a step-by-step protocol to manage challenging behavior and pain in nursing home residents with dementia. However, this method does not include a prominent and active role for family caregivers.The STA OP! method was modified to include a role for family caregivers, in co-creation with family caregivers and healthcare professionals using elements of a realist approach. In separate meetings, two advisory groups comprised of family caregivers and professionals discussed ideas on how to involve family caregivers in STA OP!. Furthermore, barriers to involving family and possible solutions to overcome those barriers were discussed. Experts who had experience with the STA OP! method assessed the feasibility of the ideas in a nominal group technique meeting.Thirty-eight ideas emerged in the advisory groups. The two ideas that generated the most discussion were Inviting family for a multidisciplinary meeting, and Assessment of pain in collaboration with family caregivers. Eventually, twenty-one ideas and suggestions to overcome possible barriers were included in a manual for the training of healthcare professionals in the adapted method, now called STA OP! with family.Healthcare professionals and family caregivers collaborated well to shape the involvement of family caregivers in this method for managing challenging behavior and pain. The collected ideas supported by all involved resulted in a modified method: STA OP! with family and can now be tested in daily practice.

    Keywords: Dementia, nursing home, challenging behavior, Pain, family involvement, intervention

    Received: 06 Jun 2024; Accepted: 11 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tasseron-Dries, Smaling, Van Der Steen and Achterberg. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Petra Tasseron-Dries, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, Netherlands

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.