Tablet-based biography work in long-term care homes to support quality of life and prevent depression

ABSTRACT

Older adults in long-term care homes are at high risk of experiencing reduced quality of life (QoL) and depression. Technology-assisted biography work can have a positive impact on QoL and mood, but there is little research on its use with this target group. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of tablet-based biography work conducted by volunteers on the QoL of residents and volunteers. A pretest-posttest control group design with an intervention period of 3 months and a 3-month follow-up was used. Results show a significant increase in participation for volunteers and residents after the intervention, which is stable for residents until follow-up. Volunteers also show significant improvement in mental QoL immediately after the intervention. There were no significant effects for life satisfaction, self-esteem, or depression. No significant changes were found for the control group. Digitally conducted tablet-based biography work appears to have effects on QoL-associated outcomes.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the cooperating LTCH and the participants in the study. We thank Hannah Heck for linguistic correction.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

IRB protocol/human subjects approval numbers

German Register of Clinical Trials, DRKS-ID: DRKS00018783.

Additional information

Funding

The BaSeTaLK project was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research under [Grant number 13FH515SA7, 13FH515SB7].