Impact of Renovations in Long Term Care Living Spaces on Residents With Dementia, Their Families and Staff

University of Manitoba

Status: Completed

Conditions: Dementia

Treatments: Other: Renovation of long-term residential care living spaces

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other; Industry

Identifiers

NCT04054583

E2016:084

Details and patient eligibility

About

A long-term care facility in central Canada planned to renovate their existing dementia care units. The overarching objective of this study was to examine the effects of the renovations on residents, family, and staff.

Full description

A long-term care facility in central Canada renovated their existing dementia care units, which accommodates 60 residents with intermediate and advanced stages of dementia. The primary features of the renovation include physical upgrades and the addition of a large u-shaped activity pavilion. The overarching objective of this study was to examine the effects of these design transformations in the facility and grounds on residents, family, and staff. The overall project addressed the following questions:

• How does the long-term care unit renovation affect the health outcomes, quality of life, and lived experiences of residents?
• What are the effects of the long-term care unit renovation on care staff and family members?
• What aspects of the transformation were responsible for observed changes? And what aspects worked or did not?

A multi-component, mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) research plan was used in this project. Personal (resident, families, staff) and environmental variables (social interactions, implementation and use of technology and physical space) were assessed pre-renovation (spring/summer 2017) and post-renovation (summer 2019 and 2020). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, plans for additional data collection in the summer of 2020 were not completed. With this mixed-methods research plan, the investigators gained valuable information about the renovation that is important for long term care facilities.

Enrollment: 75 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Resident Inclusion Criteria:

• Currently living on special care unit for residents with intermediate to advanced dementia or cognitive impairment in a long-term care facility

Family Member Inclusion:

• Must have a family member/friend/neighbour currently living on the special care unit.
• For the QUALID, the family member must have visited the resident at least three out of the last seven days

Family Member Exclusion Criteria:

• Must be able to participate in-person.
• Must be able to communicate in English.
• Must be cognitively able to participate.

Staff Inclusion Criteria:

• Must currently work on the special care unit (either full or part-time or occasional)
• For the survey, staff must be able to read and understand English.

Trial design

75 participants in 3 patient groups

Residents

Description:

Residents living on a special care unit in a long-term care facility. All 60 residents residing in the unit pre- and post-renovation will be eligible, and all will have intermediate or advanced dementia.

Treatment:

Other: Renovation of long-term residential care living spaces

Family Members

Description:

Family members are defined as the key person who supports the resident on a regular basis. This could include a spouse, adult child, adult grandchild, niece or nephew, close friend, former neighbour, or other significant person to the resident.

Treatment:

Other: Renovation of long-term residential care living spaces

Staff

Description:

Staff are the people who work on the special care unit. They may work only briefly or work on the design of the renovations. Types include: managers, nurses, health care aides, recreation facilitators, social worker, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, rehabilitation assistant, speech language pathologist, physicians, designers, and cleaning staff.

Treatment:

Other: Renovation of long-term residential care living spaces