The Impact of Enhanced Group Activity Kits (EGAKs) on Well-being of Persons With Dementia

Objectives: People living with dementia (PLwD) often feel lonely and bored. This study examined the impact of group activities on the well-being of this population when these activities were facilitated by enhanced group activity kits (EGAKs) and compared the impact of this intervention with (1) group activities not facilitated by EGAKs and (2) the absence of group activities. Design: The study was conducted as a stepped-wedge clustered trial. Setting and Participants: The study included 123 PLwD from 6 nursing care units and 4 senior day units for PLwD in the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem metropolitan areas of Israel. Methods: The participants took part in group activities while their well-being was assessed using the Group Observational Measurement of Engagement (GOME) assessment tool, from which a Wellbeing Index was derived. Participants attended baseline group activities, during which a facility staff activity leader conducted activities without using EGAKs. Thereafter, the same activity leader and participants engaged in activities that used EGAKs. During the course of the study, 1 activity leader resigned, and her participants, who were no longer offered group activities, were assessed at the times during which their previous activities would have occurred. Results: Significant improvement in well-being (P < .001) was found during group activities facilitated using EGAKs compared with group activities conducted by the same activity leaders not using EGAKs. Compared with baseline group activity sessions (without EGAKs), a no-activity state yielded a highly significant decrease in well-being (P < .001). Conclusions and Implications: The results demonstrate the potential utility of EGAKs to improve the well-being of people living with dementia. This relatively inexpensive innovation can be made available on a large scale to nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and senior day centers. Future research should expand the range of content of EGAKs in order to serve PLwD of diverse cultural backgrounds.