Occupational adaptation as a social process for dementia care teams

Abstract

Background

Few studies have examined a group’s collective experience of occupation using occupational therapy theoretical models. Dementia caregiving requires a diverse team of caregivers who learn and work together to resolve shared challenges. An Occupational Adaptation (OA) theory-based training program for dementia care teams was developed to better understand the team’s adaptive process inherent in cooperative caregiving.

Aim/objectives

Describe how the team learned together and how the training impacted their teamwork.

Materials/methods

Fourteen employees at one continuing care retirement community underwent OA-based training. During the program, the team analysed and resolved challenging dementia care cases. Participant observations, participant journals, open-ended surveys, and follow-up semi-structured interviews were analysed.

Results

The thematic framework included five steps: unite around a shared challenge, tap the collective adaptive repertoire, collaborate on case-specific plans, implement with teamwork, and return for ongoing problem solving and integration. The program enhanced appreciation for teammates’ knowledge, skills, and experiences, learning from each other, and integration of team-centered OA process.

Conclusion/significance

The OA-based program appears to have facilitated adaptation that was complex, social, and generalisable. OA theory is enriched with a social view of occupational adaptation opening new opportunities for therapists and researchers to understand and facilitate adaptation among teams.

Keywords:

• Caregiving
• collective occupation
• community
• co-occupation
• long term care
• qualitative descriptive
• team-centered
• teamwork
• workforce training

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes

1 For more information on the makeup of the program advisory committee and the role of committee members as key informants, refer to the larger study [10] or contact the first author.

2 Further information about data collection, including interview questions may be obtained from the first author.

Additional information

Funding

Approval for this study was granted in 2018 by the Institutional Review Board of Texas Woman’s University, Dallas [operating under FWA00000178], Protocol # 20236. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.