Using Voice-Activated Technologies to Enhance Well-Being of Older Adults in Long-Term Care Homes.

Background And Objectives: Information communication technologies (ICTs) can enhance older adults' health and well-being. Most research on the use of voice-activated ICTs by older adults has focused on the experiences of individuals living in the community, excluding those who live in long-term care homes. Given evidence of the potential benefits of such technologies to mitigate social isolation and loneliness, more research is needed about their impacts in long-term care home settings.

Projecting a Critique of Stigma Associated With Dementia on Screen: The Impact of a Canadian Film on the Importance of Relational Caring in the Community.

Background And Objectives: Relational caring has the capacity to reduce stigma associated with dementia by shifting the focus from dysfunction and behavior management, to attending to the interdependencies and reciprocities that underpin caring relationships, and making explicit the centrality of relationships to quality care, growth, and quality of life. Education, particularly arts-based approaches, has been identified as a key strategy to decrease stigma. Yet rarely are the arts utilized in educational initiatives, and particularly so in community care settings.

Fit for Dialysis: a prospective 2-site parallel intervention trial of a filmed research-based drama to increase exercise amongst older hemodialysis patients.

Purpose: The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of a filmed research-based drama-Fit for Dialysis-and an exercise program on patients' physical activity and fitness outcomes.

Methods: Nineteen (10 at the intervention site, 9 at the control site) older patients with a medical diagnosis of hemodialysis-dependent end-stage renal disease were recruited from two acute care hospitals in urban central Canada where they were receiving out-patient hemodialysis care. Participants at the intervention site viewed Fit for Dialysis prior to participating in a 16-week exercise program.

Fit for Dialysis: a qualitative exploration of the impact of a research-based film for the promotion of exercise in hemodialysis.

Background: Exercise improves functional outcomes and quality of life of older patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing hemodialysis. Yet exercise is not promoted as part of routine care. Health care providers and family carers rarely provide encouragement for patients to exercise, and the majority of older patients remain largely inactive.

A prospective 2-site parallel intervention trial of a research-based film to increase exercise amongst older hemodialysis patients.

Background: Evidence suggests that exercise training for hemodialysis patients positively improves morbidity and mortality outcomes, yet exercise programs remain rare and are not systematically incorporated into care. We developed a research-based film, Fit for Dialysis, designed to introduce, motivate, and sustain exercise for wellness amongst older hemodialysis patients, and exercise counseling and support by nephrologists, nurses, and family caregivers. The objective of this clinical trial is to determine whether and in what ways Fit for Dialysis improves outcomes and influences knowledge/attitudes regarding the importance of exercise for wellness in the context of end-stage renal disease.

Elder-Clowning in Long-Term Dementia Care: Results of a Pilot Study.

Objectives: To assess the effects of elder-clowning on moderate to severe behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in nursing home residents with dementia, primarily of the Alzheimer's type.

Design: Before-and-after study.

Setting: Nursing home.