Effects of the Namaste Care Family Programme on Quality of Life of Nursing Home Residents with Advanced Dementia and on Family Caregiving Experiences: Study Protocol of a Cluster-randomised Controlled Trial

Overview

Journal BMJ Open

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2018 Oct 18

PMID 30327407

Citations 14

Authors

Hanneke J A Smaling

Karlijn J Joling

Peter M van de Ven

Judith E Bosmans

Joyce Simard

Ladislav Volicer

Wilco P Achterberg

Anneke L Francke

Jenny T van der Steen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: Quality of life of people with advanced dementia living in nursing homes is often suboptimal. Family caregivers can feel frustrated with limited contact with their relatives, which results in visits that are perceived as stressful and not very meaningful. Few psychosocial interventions are specifically developed for people with advanced dementia, and actively involve family caregivers or volunteers. Also, interventions usually stop when it becomes difficult for people to participate. The Namaste Care Family programme aims to increase the quality of life of people with advanced dementia, and improve family caregiving experiences through connecting to people and making them comfortable.

Methods And Analysis: Our study will evaluate the effects of the Namaste Care Family programme on quality of life of people with advanced dementia living in nursing homes and family caregiving experiences using a cluster-randomised controlled trial. Longitudinal analyses will be performed taking into account clustering at the nursing home level. Both a cost-effectiveness and a cost-utility analysis from a societal perspective will be performed. We will modify the Namaste Care Family programme to increase family and volunteer involvement in ongoing and end-of-life care. Data collection involves assessments by family caregivers, nursing staff and elderly care physicians using questionnaires, and observations by the researchers at baseline and multiple times over 12 months. The last questionnaire will be sent up to month 24 after the death of the person with dementia. During semistructured interviews, the feasibility, accessibility and sustainability of the Namaste Care Family programme will be assessed.

Ethics And Dissemination: The study protocol is approved by the Medical Ethics Review Committee of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam (protocol no. 2016.399) and registered with the Nederlands Trial Register (NTR5692). The findings will be disseminated via publications in peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and presentations for healthcare professionals where appropriate.

Trial Registration Number: NTR5692.

Citing Articles

Implementing Namaste Care in nursing care homes for people with advanced dementia: a systematically constructed review with framework synthesis.

Salvi S, Preston N, Cornally N, Walshe C BMC Geriatr. 2025; 25(1):17.

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Role of Namaste Care: A Person-Centered Approach to Enhance the Quality of Life of the Elderly with Alzheimer's Disease.

Rezapour-Nasrabad R, Heydari M, Moosavi Moqaddam S, Piri S, Sadeghi Moghimi E, Rustaee S Galen Med J. 2024; 12:e3205.

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Experiences of family caregivers and nursing home staff interactions during the adaptation process of elderly individuals moving to nursing home: a qualitative study.

Zhao D, Shao H, Wang P, Xie L, Chen Z BMJ Open. 2024; 14(10):e084138.

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What are best practices for involving family caregivers in interventions aimed at responsive behaviour stemming from unmet needs of people with dementia in nursing homes: a scoping review.

Tasseron-Dries P, Smaling H, Nakanishi M, Achterberg W, van der Steen J BMJ Open. 2023; 13(12):e071804.

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Interventions that may increase control at the end of life in persons with dementia: the cross-cultural CONT-END acceptability study protocol and pilot-testing.

Smaling H, Jingyuan X, Nakanishi M, Shinan-Altman S, Mehr D, Radbruch L BMC Palliat Care. 2023; 22(1):142.

PMID: 37752467 PMC: 10523619. DOI: 10.1186/s12904-023-01249-7.

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