Annica Backman

The Umeå Ageing and health research programme (U-age) : exploring person-centred care and health promoting living conditions for an ageing population

The aim of this article is to describe the Umeå ageing and health research programme that explores person-centred care and health-promoting living conditions for an ageing population in Sweden, and to place this research programme in a national and international context of available research evidence and trends in aged care policy and practice. Contemporary trends in aged care policy includes facilitating ageing in place and providing person-centred care across home and aged care settings, despite limited evidence on how person-centred care can be operationalised in home care services and sheltered housing accommodation for older people. The Umeå ageing and health research programme consists of four research projects employing controlled, cross-sectional and longitudinal designs across ageing in place, sheltered housing, and nursing homes. The research programme is expected to provide translational knowledge on the structure, content and outcomes of person-centred care and health-promoting living conditions in home care, sheltered housing models, and nursing homes for older people and people with dementia.

The relative impact of symptoms, resident characteristics and features of nursing homes on residents’ participation in social occupations: Cross-sectional findings from U-Age Swenis

ABSTRACT Social occupations have been described as meaningful occupations, and a determinant of health in old age. With ageing populations, and increased need for nursing home care, it is therefore important to support participation in social occupations in nursing homes. However, the limited evidence on factors that may have an impact on nursing home residents’ participation in social occupations makes it difficult to know how and when to support their participation and who to target. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the impact of symptoms, resident characteristics and features of nursing homes on residents’ participation in social occupations. In a sample of 4,451 nursing home residents, the average number of social occupations participated in during the week preceding data collection was 5.8. Additionally, participation in social occupations was positively influenced by fewer symptoms of cognitive impairment, female sex, shorter length of stay, and living in a dementia specific care unit. The study thereby contributes with knowledge on populations at risk for occupational deprivation, and implications for understanding who to target with interventions to promote social occupations and when. However, very little is known about how to design interventions to support nursing home residents’ occupational opportunities, and what occupations they desire and need. Further research is therefore needed to identify nursing home residents’ occupational opportunities, wishes and needs in relation to environmental barriers, individual characteristics, and individual choice.

Resource use and its association to cognitive impairment, ADL functions, and behavior in residents of Swedish nursing homes: Results from the U-Age program (SWENIS study)

We aimed to investigate resource use and its association to cognitive impairment, activities of daily living, and neuropsychiatric symptoms in residents of Swedish nursing homes.