Replication and extension of a check-in procedure to increase activity engagement among people with severe dementia.

Engelman, Altus, and Mathews (1999) evaluated a procedure to ensure that staff checked in with elderly residents in a nursing home and offered activity choices. We report findings of a replication, with some additional components, to increase appropriate activity engagement among 5 residents (aged 77 to 83 years) with severe dementia. Evaluated in a concurrent multiple baseline design across participants that incorporated partial withdrawal phases, activity engagement increased for 3 participants, with modest improvement for 1 other participant. The 4 responders all engaged in a wider variety of activities during intervention.