title: Activity situations on an Alzheimer's disease special care unit and resident environmental interactions, time use, and affect.
abstract: Routine activity situations on an Alzheimer's disease (AD) special care unit were examined with respect to residents' social and physical environmental interactions, time use, and apparent affect. Using a computer-assisted observational tool, observers recorded prevailing activity situations and corresponding behaviors and affects of seven residents every 10 minutes, from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, across four days. Although meals/snacks and some activity groups were positively associated with use of physical objects and engagement in activities, residents were predominantly environmentally disengaged, inactive, or without positive affects during the most prevalent activity situations of background media, downtime, and television. Findings suggest that routine activity situations may act as potent environmental influences on the quality of life (QOL) of people with AD and mediate the effectiveness of other environmental interventions undertaken on their behalf.
authors.affiliation: Division of Occupational Therapy, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Shelly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Snider
authors.forename: Stacy A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Patchel
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006757:Hospital Units; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012931:Social Environment