Effects of Physical Environment on Quality of Life among Residents with Dementia in Long-Term Care Facilities in Canada and Sweden: A longitudinal study in a large-scale institutional setting versus a small-scale homelike set
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- 이숙영; Lillian Hung; Habib Chaudhury; Agneta Morelli
- Source
- Architectural Research, 23(2), 61, pp.19-28 Jun, 2021
- Subject
- 건축공학
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2383-5575
1229-6163
Reduction in competence makes older adults with dementia more sensitive to the influence of the physicalenvironment. The aim of the longitudinal study was to examine whether residents with dementia in long-term facilitieswith variability in physical environmental characteristics in Vancouver (N= 11), Canada and Stockholm (N=13), Swedenhad a difference in their quality of life (QoL). QoL was assessed using Dementia Care Mapping tool three times over oneyear for the reliability of data. The results of the study demonstrated that the residents with dementia living in a homelikeand positive stimulating setting showed less withdrawn behaviors and a higher level of well-being compared to those ina large-scale institutional setting. This study also found that the residents living in a large-scale institutional environmentspent more monotonous times than the other groups, which may be to provision of fewer structured activity programsor less social interaction with neighbors or staff members. Residents living in a large-scale institutional setting in Canadashowed so far as five times more agitated/ distressed behaviors and twice more withdrawal compared to the ones livingin a small-scale homelike setting in Sweden. The study supports that the large-scale institutional environment wasconsiderably associated with levels of lower quality of life among the residents with dementia.