Which Type of Group Activity has the Greatest Impact on the Well-Being of Persons With Dementia? An Exploration of a Study of Enhanced Group Activity Kits.

OBJECTIVES

Group activities for persons living with dementia (PLwD) can enhance their well-being, mental health, and affect; however, little is known about how activity type influences outcomes. This study examines the relative impact of activity type on well-being within the context of Enhanced Group Activity Kits (EGAKs).

DESIGN

This is a secondary analysis of a stepped wedge clustered trial introducing EGAKs sequentially across settings.

SETTINGS: Six nursing care units and four senior day center units in Israel.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred fifteen PLwD who resided in or attended these settings.

INTERVENTION: Forty seven EGAK-facilitated group activities in eight categories, including singing, creative arts, reading and discussion, and travel around the world, led by staff members.

MEASUREMENTS: Research observers and activity leaders independently rated participants' responses via the group observational measurement of engagement, from which the well-being index was derived. Mixed models analyses compared well-being across categories and within categories, controlling for participants' cognitive function.

RESULTS

All 47 EGAKs yielded maximum well-being scores for at least one participant. Significant differences emerged across categories: physical exercise, creative arts, singing, and Jewish texts reading/discussion achieved the highest well-being, whereas travel around the world and art history elicited the lowest. Within-category analyses showed significant variations within six of the eight categories. Correspondingly, the ranking of mean well-being for some kits diverged from others within their category.

CONCLUSIONS

While certain categories consistently promoted well-being, effectiveness depended on activity characteristics, such as personal relevance and cognitive accessibility. These findings suggest that tailoring activity content and delivery may be more important than activity type in enhancing well-being for PLwD.