Dementia has a high burden for patients, informal caregivers and society. Given changes in care systems, more persons with dementia will live longer at home. However, living at home (with dementia) ...with a good quality of life is not easy to achieve. Dementia is often accompanied by neuropsychiatric symptoms like apathy, agitation, depression, and anxiety, which have a negative impact on quality of life. Whereas cognitive deterioration can hardly be influenced, it is possible to reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms. As autobiographical memories remain intact for a relatively long time in dementia, reminiscence interventions can promote feelings of pleasure and trust. The Online Life Story Book (OLSB) allows to digitally share memories (stories, pictures, video or audio fragments). The main objective is to study the effects of the OLSB on neuropsychiatric symptoms. The study has four secondary objectives: 1) to study the effectiveness of the intervention on the burden and quality of life of the primary informal caregiver; 2) to provide a preliminary health-economic evaluation; 3) to study the (time to) nursing home admittance as a longer term effect; 4) to provide a process evaluation.
A randomized controlled trial with individual randomization to one of two conditions is conducted: 1) intervention "Online Life Story Book"; 2) control condition (care as usual). Participants are persons with early dementia and their primary caregivers. In the intervention OLSB, a trained volunteer guides the participants through the process of putting together a timeline of their lives during 5 meetings within a period of 8-10 weeks. To assess the effects of the intervention on the primary outcome, neuropsychiatric symptoms, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) will be assessed at three time points: before the intervention (baseline, T0), 3 months (T1) and 6 months (T2) post baseline.
When proven effective, the Online Life Story Book can be a valuable addition to the existing provision of care for persons with dementia and their informal caregivers.
This study has been approved by the Twente Medical Ethics Committee under the file number p16-04 (Dutch Trial Register: NTR5939 , date of registration: 14 March 2016).
Developmental changes in the questions mothers asked during book-sharing interactions with their preschool children and associations between mothers’ questions and children's narrative contributions ...were examined. Children and mothers from ethnically diverse backgrounds (African American, Dominican and Mexican) were video-recorded sharing the wordless book ‘Frog, Where are You?’ when children were three, four and five years of age. Mothers’ questions were coded as referential (e.g. ‘What's that?’), story-specific (e.g. ‘Where is the boy looking for the frog?’) and open-ended (e.g. ‘What will happen next?’). Mothers decreased their use of referential questions between the child ages of four and five in both frequency and proportion. Story-specific questions increased in frequency and proportion with increasing child age. Open-ended questions decreased in frequency between the child ages of four and five and did not change in proportion over time. Mothers’ question types related to children's narrative contributions concurrently and over time.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
► The paper focuses on the development of a Life Story Book (LSB). ► It facilitates access and retrieval of stored memories used in reminiscence therapy. ► The main contribution is the topic ...identification algorithm called Onto-SVD. ► Onto-SVD uses an user-oriented ontology to automatically detect semantic relations. ► Onto-SVD identifies topics using semantic feature selection with k-means clustering and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD).
This research addresses the needs of people who find reminiscence helpful. It focuses on the development of a computerised system called a Life Story Book (LSB), which facilitates access and retrieval of stored memories used as the basis for positive interactions between elderly and young, and especially between people with cognitive impairment and members of their family or caregivers. To facilitate information management and dynamic generation of content, this paper introduces a semantic model of LSB which is based on the use of ontologies and advanced algorithms for feature selection and dimension reduction. Furthermore, the paper defines a light weight user-oriented domain ontology and its building principles. It then proposes an algorithm called Onto-SVD, which uses the user-oriented ontology to automatically detect the semantic relations within the stored memories. It combines semantic feature selection with k-means clustering and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) to achieve topic identification based on semantic similarity. The experiments conducted explore the effect of semantic feature selection as a result of establishing indirect relations, with the help of the ontology, within the information content. The results show that Onto-SVD considerably outperforms SVD in both topic identification and semantic disambiguation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
This study aimed to find out the development of bilingual picture book media as a tool of literary appreciation at grade IV of elementary school, to determine the feasibility of the bilingual picture ...book, and to find out students’ response to the bilingual picture book media. This research was conducted at SDN Kotasari involving 22 students in class IV-A. 10 students were tested in a limited trial. The type of research referred to the Borg and Gall model modified by Sugiyono. This model consisted of six stages namely problem analysis, data collection, product design, design validation, design revision and product trial. The instruments used were questionnaires for media validation by lecturers and student questionnaire sheets. Based on the data analysis, several findings were obtained, among others, the quality of the bilingual picture book was categorized as very feasible with a percentage of 86% according to two media experts, very feasible with a percentage of 82.5% according to two linguists, and 91.5% according to two material experts. Then, the percentage from the students’ responses was 89% with very good category. Thus, it was concluded that bilingual picture book media could be used in learning literary appreciation at grade IV of elementary school.
This study examines the effectiveness of a life story work program (LSWp) in older adults with mild-to-moderate levels of intellectual disability (ID).
Using a quasiexperimental design, this study ...assigned 60 older adults who were between 50-90 years old with mild-to-moderate levels of ID to receive either the LSWp (intervention group, N=32) or usual activities (control group, N=28) during a period of 6 months. Evaluation was made based on the outcomes assessed by the Mood Interest and Pleasure Questionnaire, the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, and the Personal Wellbeing Index - ID.
LSWp shows potential for improving the quality of life and preventing the loss of interest and pleasure in older adults with ID. It also shows promise in enhancing their socialization skills. Patients with better communication abilities seemed to benefit more from the LSWp.
Background: To date, no firm conclusions can be reached regarding the effectiveness of reminiscence for dementia. Researchers have emphasized that there is an urgent need for more systematic research ...in the area. Objective and Method: A single-blinded, parallel-groups (one intervention, one comparison, and one no-intervention group) randomized controlled trial (RCT) was adopted to investigate whether a specific reminiscence program leads to higher levels of psychosocial well-being in nursing home residents with dementia. The intervention adopted a life-story approach, while the comparison group provided friendly discussions to control for any changes in outcome as a result of social contacts and attention. The Social Engagement Scale (SES) and Well-being/Ill-being Scale (WIB) were the outcome measures used. The outcomes of the groups were examined with reference to the baseline (T0), immediately (T1), and six weeks (T2) after intervention. The final sample had 101 subjects (control group: n=30; comparison group: n=35; intervention group: n=36). Using multivariate analysis with repeated measures, no significant differences in outcome were found between groups at either T1 or T2. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were performed for each group comparing outcomes between T1 and T0, T2 and T1, and T2 and T0. Significant differences were observed in the intervention group when comparing T1 and T0 WIB (p=.014), but not for the other groups. Conclusion: Although the intervention did not lead to significant differences between the three groups over time, there was a significant improvement in psychosocial well-being for the intervention group.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of personalized books on parents’ and children’s engagement during shared book reading. Seven native English parents and their children aged ...between 12 and 33 months were observed at home when sharing a book made specifically for the child (i.e. a personalized book), a comparable book with no personalized content, and a favourite book of the child. The interactions were videotaped and later coded to provide information about the frequency of behaviours that indicated engagement with the books. Statistical analyses revealed that children and parents showed significantly higher overall frequencies of smiles and laughs with the personalized books in comparison to the non-personalized books, and showed higher frequency of vocal activity with the personalized as opposed to the child’s favourite book. In addition, there was a significantly higher rate of children’s smiles and laughs with the personalized than with the non-personalized book. It appeared that most of the children’s positive affect with the personalized books was in response to the content of those books, while the parents’ smiles occurred mostly in response to a smile or laugh from the child. These findings are among the first to suggest that personalized features of books result in specific distinct responses in parents and children during shared book reading.
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OBJECTIVE: A single-blinded, parallel-groups (intervention, active and passive control groups) randomized controlled trial (RCT) was chosen to investigate whether a specific reminiscence program is ...associated with higher levels of quality of life in nursing home residents with dementia. METHODS: The intervention used a life-story approach, while the control groups participated in casual discussions. The Social Engagement Scale (SES) and Self Reported Quality of Life Scale (SRQoL) were used as the outcome measures, which were examined at baseline (T0), 12 weeks (T1), and six months (T2) after the intervention. The final sample had 135 subjects (active control group = 45; passive control group = 45; intervention group = 45). RESULTS: The Wilcoxon test showed significant differences in the intervention group between T2 and T0, and between T1 and T0 in the SES, and there were significant differences between T0 and T1 (intervention effect size = 0.267) and T1 and T2 (intervention effect size = 0.450) in the SRQoL. The univariate logistic regression scores showed that predictors of change in the SRQoL were associated with fewer baseline anxiety symptoms and lower depression scores. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention led to significant differences between the three groups over time, showing a significant improvement in the quality of life and engagement of the residents in the intervention group.OBJETIVO: Elegeu-se um ensaio randomizado controlado simples cego, com grupos paralelos (intervenção, comparação e controle) para pesquisar se um programa específico de reminiscência associa-se com maiores níveis de qualidade de vida em residentes com demência com cuidados prolongados. MÉTODO: No grupo de intervenção usou-se o enfoque da história de vida, enquanto o grupo controle recebeu conversas amistosas. A Escala de Compromisso Social (SES) e a escala auto-referida de qualidade de vida (SRQoL) foram as medidas de resultados, examinados na linha de base, doze semanas, e seis meses após a intervenção. A mostra final teve 135 sujeitos (controle n = 45; comparação n = 45; intervenção n = 45). RESULTADOS: Wilcoxon test no grupo intervencional comparando os resultados entre T1 e T0, T2 e T1, e T2 e T0 mostraram diferenças significativas entre T2 e T0 (tamanho do efeito de intervenção = 0,460) e T1 e T0 (tamanho do efeito de intervenção = 0,486) em o SES; e entre T0 e T1 (tamanho do efeito de intervenção = 0,267) e T1 e T2 (tamanho do efeito de intervenção = 0,450) em o SRQoL no grupo de intervenção. As pontuações de regressão logística univariada mostraram que os predictores de mudança estavam associados com menores níveis de ansiedade basal e menores níveis de depresión. CONCLUSÕES: A intervenção produziu diferenças significativas entre os três grupos ao longo do tempo, mostrando uma melhoria significativa na qualidade de vida e compromisso dos residentes no grupo de intervenção.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
One method to support the success of teaching of writing skills is using story books. It has many kinds of benefits that provides the students more creative and challenging texts that require ...personal exploration, easier understanding of information which are commonly hard to comprehend and remember, and easier illustration in making connection among various elements and concepts being taught. This research deals with teaching creative writing through story book reading, and it is aimed at finding whether this method is beneficial or not in increasing creativity in writing. The study is carried out using a pre-test and post-test design to 14 students from the first grade. Between the two tests, the students were provided with basic knowledge of creative writing. The data of the research were the scores of the pre-test and post-test compared and analyzed based on the rubric of ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. The pre-test result shows that 29% of the students achieve the standard of achievement. After the creative writing process, the post-test result indicates that 93% of the students achieve the standard of student achievement in creative writing.
This paper is a comparative analysis of "The Storyteller", by Saki, “Cuento de la niña condecorada” by Jorge Ibargüengoitia and "Super Dooper Jezebel" by Tony Ross: three works aimed directly or ...indirectly at younger readers, which share a single archetype or motif: that of the obedient, overly perfect young girl who behaves more like an adult than a child. This examination of the similarities and differences between the three versions of the good-girl story, from the perspective of reception theory, highlights the role played by the implicit reader as an intrinsic element of the work's artistic make-up. Using different resources, and from their very structure, the three works conjure up the presence of an active reader who sees events coming, sets off the ironic and humorous games, uncovers meaning, interprets and, above all, generates that magical alliance between work and reader that breathes life into the text. This paper traces the steps of a pre-determined reader in three stories that condemn a character who, in the quest for perfection, falls into the horrific trap of embodying it.
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