Medical College of Wisconsin
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How Is Quality of Life Assessed in People With Dementia? A Systematic Literature Review and a Primer for Speech-Language Pathologists. Am J Speech Lang Pathol 2020 Aug 04;29(3):1702-1715

Date

06/04/2020

Pubmed ID

32492356

DOI

10.1044/2020_AJSLP-19-00169

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85089164683 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   9 Citations

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine how quality of life (QoL) is measured in people with dementia involved in interventions designed to improve well-being and to explore how those measures align with principles of person-centered care. Method A systematic literature review was conducted utilizing PsychInfo, CINAHL, and PubMed and combinations of the search terms: "dementia," "outcome measure," "creative engagement," "creative intervention," "TimeSlips," "art," "quality of life," and "well-being." The search was limited to studies published in peer-reviewed journals that reported outcomes for people with dementia in response to a creative intervention. Results Across the 24 reviewed studies, 30 different outcome measures were reported including eight self-reported, nine observational, and 13 proxy-reported measures. Self-report of QoL was elicited 16 times, observational measures were reported 17 times, and proxy-reported measures were used 28 times. All measures were used with participants across the dementia severity spectrum. Conclusion Current clinical practice of QoL evaluation does not align well with person-centered care principles of self-determination based on the low proportion of self-report. The previously reported limitations of proxy-report have been in part confirmed with this study. Implications of the findings for speech-language pathologists are discussed.

Author List

Heuer S, Willer R

Author

Sabine Heuer PhD Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders department at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Dementia
Humans
Pathologists
Quality of Life
Self Care
Speech