The support occipational therapists, working with older people with dementia and their informal caregivers, need in integrating social participation in their occupational therapy practice in the Nederlands and the United Kingdom
Cliënt gecentreerd werken
Onderzoek door: Robert van der Veen, Sander van Roosmalen, Steven van der Meij en Tanja de Vries. Samengevat door: redactie Tessa Plender
Volledige titel: The support occipational therapists, working with older people with dementia and their informal caregivers, need in integrating social participation in their occupational therapy practice in the Nederlands and the United Kingdom 06-February-2018
Introduction: Times are changing rapidly, and many things in healthcare for older people with dementia are about to change. This study is about the integration of social participation of older people with dementia and their informal caregivers in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Objective: Researchers answered the question: ‘What support do occupational therapists, working
with older people with dementia and their informal caregivers, need in integrating social participation in occupational therapy practice in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom?’. Based on the conclusions from the research described in this report, recommendations are given.
Method: A qualitative study was performed to answer the research question; based on an explanatory research design based on an inductive approach. Recruitment was done by the network of dr. M. Graff and dr. K. Radford. After an explorative literature study and expert interviews, an interview guide was developed. Participants were interviewed by phone, using a semi-structured interview method. Seventeen occupational therapists participated, (n=12) in the Netherlands and (n=5) in the United Kingdom. All interviews were transcribed and sent to the participants. Participants had the opportunity to reply on the transcript of their interview.
Results: The results of the interviews in the Netherlands, are divided into four themes: Facilities; role
of occupational therapist; role of older people with dementia and their informal caregivers;
acceptance. Results of the interviews with occupational therapists in the United Kingdom are divided
into three themes: facilities; role of the occupational therapist; role of the older people with dementia and their informal caregiver. Findings show that occupational therapists experience lack of resources and feel restricted in their possibilities to promote social participation, which affects their confidence and skills in occupational therapy practice. Wishes and needs in social participation of older people with dementia usually do not correspond with problems observed by occupational therapists (NL). Most of the occupational therapists also do not see any differences between ‘social participation’ and ‘participation’. They find themselves unaware in focussing on social participation in their occupational therapy practice even though they see added value of focussing on social participation (NL). Another problem is that the current healthcare system does not look actively at social participation (UK).
Conclusion: Occupational therapists need support in fitting facilities to promote social participation. Prerequisites are needed such as time and funding to focus on social participation, knowledge about social participation, stimulation for applying clinical reasoning regarding social participation and promoting occupational therapy as profession in the care for older people with dementia and their informal caregivers.
Recommendations: Recommendations were written on three different topics:
Knowledge and creating awareness:
• Exchange of knowledge regarding literature
• Education
• Involving the World Federation of Occupational Therapy
Promoting clinical reasoning:
• Focus groups
Promoting occupational therapy:
• Promoting occupational therapy
“Eindrapport van een praktijkgericht onderzoek in Semester 2 2016/2017 aan de Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, opleiding Ergotherapie. In opdracht van Radboud Universiteit, IQ Healthcare, Dr. Maud Graff en The University of Nottingham.
Age UK Sutten. (n.d.). Our partners. Retrieved on February 4, 2018, from http://www.ageuk.org.uk/sutton/about-age-uk-sutton/our-community-partners-/