Assisting cognitively impaired nursing home residents with bathing: effects of two bathing interventions on caregiving.

Purpose: When cognitively impaired nursing home residents exhibit agitated and aggressive behaviors during bathing, nursing home caregivers are in a unique position to improve residents' experience. This report addresses whether certified nursing assistants (CNAs) who received training in a person-centered approach with showering and with the towel bath showed improved caregiving behaviors (gentleness and verbal support) and experienced greater preparedness (confidence and ease) and less distress (hassles) when assisting residents with bathing.

Design And Methods: We used a crossover design and randomized 15 nursing homes into two treatment groups and a control group of 5 facilities each.

The bathing of older adults with dementia.

Older adults who need assistance with bathing often find the activity to be both physically and emotionally demanding, as do their caregivers. Research has identified several contributing factors, including pain; fatigue and weakness; confusion; anxiety resulting from being naked in front of strangers, being afraid of falling, and being in a noisy or unfamiliar place; and discomfort from cold or drafty bathing areas or harsh water sprays. The authors of this article make the case for the elimination of forced bathing.

Effect of person-centered showering and the towel bath on bathing-associated aggression, agitation, and discomfort in nursing home residents with dementia: a randomized, controlled trial.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of two nonpharmacological techniques in reducing agitation, aggression, and discomfort in nursing home residents with dementia. The techniques evaluated were person-centered showering and the towel bath (a person-centered, in-bed bag-bath with no-rinse soap).

Design: A randomized, controlled trial, with a usual-care control group and two experimental groups, with crossover.