title: Daily lives of residents with dementia in nursing homes: development of the Maastricht electronic daily life observation tool.
abstract: Daily life is a dynamic and multidimensional concept, for which appropriate assessment tools are lacking. This study describes the development of the Maastricht Electronic Daily Life Observation tool (MEDLO-tool), a freely accessible, easy to use, electronic observation tool to assess relevant daily life aspects for nursing home residents with dementia.
  
  
  
  (1) Determining relevant aspects of daily life for nursing home residents with dementia based on a literature search and expert interviews; (2) pilot testing observation procedures and operationalizations of the aspects of daily life; and (3) exploring inter-rater reliability and feasibility of the tool in a nursing home facility with 16 residents (56% female, mean age: 77).
  
  
  
  The following aspects of daily life are assessed with the MEDLO-tool: (1) activity (activity performed by resident, engagement in this activity, and the degree of physical effort); (2) physical environment (location of the resident and interaction with the physical environment); (3) social interaction (the level and type of social interaction, and with whom this social interaction took place); and (4) emotional well-being (mood and agitation). Each aspect of daily life is observed and scored using standardized scoring options. Agreement on the aspects is high with an average absolute agreement of 86%. Users of the MEDLO-tool indicated that it was feasible in practice and contained clear operationalization of the aspects of daily life.
  
  
  
  The MEDLO-tool is a promising tool to gain real time insight into the aspects of the daily lives of nursing home residents with dementia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research,Faculty of Health,Medicine and Life Sciences,CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care,Maastricht University,Maastricht,the Netherlands.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research,Faculty of Health,Medicine and Life Sciences,CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care,Maastricht University,Maastricht,the Netherlands.
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Beerens
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research,Faculty of Health,Medicine and Life Sciences,CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care,Maastricht University,Maastricht,the Netherlands.
authors.forename: S M G
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zwakhalen
authors.affiliation: Department of Methodology and Statistics,Faculty of Health,Medicine and Life Sciences,CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care,Maastricht University,Maastricht,the Netherlands.
authors.forename: F E S
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research,Faculty of Health,Medicine and Life Sciences,CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care,Maastricht University,Maastricht,the Netherlands.
authors.forename: J P H
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hamers
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research,Faculty of Health,Medicine and Life Sciences,CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care,Maastricht University,Maastricht,the Netherlands.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Verbeek
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Alzheimer's disease (AD); dementia; long-term care; nursing homes; quality of life