Together WE care! Collaborating with family to reduce challenging behavior and pain in nursing home residents with dementia
Abstract
Challenging behavior, such as depression, apathy, or aggression, is common among nursing home residents with dementia. Pain is often an underlying cause. This dissertation aims to improve dementia care by actively involving family members in addressing challenging behavior and pain, using an adapted version of the multidisciplinary STA OP! method.
The research explores factors that influence family involvement in nursing homes, how the STA OP! method can be modified to include a role for family members, and the impact of this implementation on residents, relatives, and nursing staff.
The adapted method (STA OP! with family) shows positive effects on both residents and nursing staff. However, involving family caregivers in care is not yet standard practice. A cultural shift is needed—one that recognizes relatives as collaborative partners, enabling them to take shared responsibility in the care for the resident.
By involving family caregivers, a more person-centered approach is fostered. This can improve residents’ quality of life and strengthen mutual understanding and collaboration between care (nursing) staff and families. The dissertation offers recommendations for implementing the method, enhancing family involvement, and future research on collaboration with relatives.
