Nursing strategies for enhancing calm in older Arabs with dementia: integrating Snoezelen methods, aromatherapy, and personal items to reduce agitation.

Background: Agitation significantly impacts Arab elders with dementia. Multisensory stimulation, such as Snoezelen, shows promise but lacks exploration in Arab contexts.

Objective: Evaluate a culturally adapted multisensory intervention-combining Snoezelen, aromatherapy, and personal items-on agitation in Arab elders with dementia.

Methods: A quasi-experimental design assessed 31 patients receiving the intervention against 31 controls. Agitation, quality of life, and neuropsychiatric symptoms were measured using the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI).

Results: The intervention group exhibited notable reductions in CMAI scores for aggression and agitation behaviors (p < 0.001) and improvements in quality of life and NPI scores for agitation/aggression and depression/dysphoria (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: This culturally tailored multisensory approach effectively reduced agitation and improved well-being in Arab dementia patients. The findings advocate for further research and suggest such interventions can be beneficial in culturally diverse dementia care settings.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, ID NCT06216275.