Positive Psychological Assessment and Early-Stage Dementia

ABSTRACT

Objectives: There are no known positive psychological (PP) measures adapted/validated for use with people in the early stages of dementia. Objectives were to: (1) develop/pilot an accessible protocol for administering PP measures in this population; (2) examine their psychometric properties; and (3) provide preliminary observations about how people with early-stage dementia perceive various aspects of PP as it pertains to living with dementia.

Methods: Five PP measures were adapted/administered to 36 people with early-stage dementia. Constructs of interests were gratitude, life satisfaction, meaning in life, optimism, and resilience. Psychometric data were calculated and response patterns analyzed.

Results: Participants easily completed the adapted measures using the accessible protocol. Preliminary evidence of reliability and validity were yielded. Response patterns suggested a range of PP perceptions and experiences among participants.

Conclusions: This study represents a step towards validating the psychometric properties of several PP measures adapted for use with people in the early stages of dementia and provides insight into how PP works in this population.

Clinical Implications: PP assessment may assist clinicians and researchers to better understand PP functioning in this population potentially contributing to effective strengths based psychosocial interventions. Recommendations for clinical practice and future research are provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• anxiety
• assessment
• dementia
• depression
• hope
• meaning in life
• positive psychology
• resilience

Dedication

This paper is dedicated to the late Dr. Richard Taylor (1943–2015), a clinical psychologist, who was diagnosed with AD in the very early stages. Dr. Taylor dedicated his life to advocating for people with AD and their families by sharing his personal experience of living with AD. He wrote, “Why not spend a bit more time and effort talking with people who have the disease? Studying our needs? Coming up with ideas that make our lives both safer and more fulfilling…?”, Richard Taylor (p. 95, 2007). We have attempted to work towards answering his call and appreciate the individuals we have known who were diagnosed with AD and had the courage to share their unique perspectives with us.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the many people who have made this project possible, most notably Lenn and Danny Prince whose endowment at the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, Baylor University provided partial funding for the project. Additionally, we would like to thank the Amazing Place Memory Care and Wellness Center, Houston, Texas; the Buckner Retirement Community, San Angelo, Texas; the Alzheimer’s Association of North Texas; and Interfaith Carepartners of Houston, Texas for their willingness to serve as recruitment sites for the project. This project could not have taken place without the assistance of our research team including Paul Barclay, Meredith Bell, Rachelle Bennett, Stephanie Garcia, and Hannah Seela, among others. Dr. Jocelyn McGee, principal investigator for this project, was on faculty in the Department of Neurology at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, Texas serving as the Director of Education/Director of Patient & Family Services for the Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center (ADMDC) when data collection for this project was completed and would like to express gratitude to BCM for the opportunity to conduct this study.