Developing of a re-constructive approach for the daily lives of elderly persons with dementia who can't explain their own meaninnful occupations through language

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24650457
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: General human life sciences
• Research Institution: Sapporo Medical University
• Principal Investigator: SAKAUE Mari 札幌医科大学, 保健医療学部, 准教授 (70295369)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): MICHINOBU Ryoko 札幌医科大学, 医療人育成センター, 准教授 (70336410)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 認知症高齢者 / 作業科学 / 質的研究

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study was to determine the construction process of occupations for elderly persons with dementia who couldn’t explain their own meaningful occupations through language from an occupational science perspective. Data was collected using a fieldwork approach over one year at a long-term facility for dementia patients in Hokkaido, Japan. Data was analyzed using qualitative research methods focusing on the process for the emergence and transformation of occupations. During this study, actions or activities were found for some residents through active interaction with the environments within the facility. However, lack of occupational unity in those behaviors, resulting from intrinsic and extrinsic factors, brought difficulty to the process of constructing occupations.

Free Research Field

作業科学，作業療法学