Family involvement in the lives of people who have dementia and live in long-term care is important, but family members may face challenges communicating and connecting with their loved one as dementia progresses. A type of therapeutic humor (Laughter Care) delivered by trained specialists aims to engage people with dementia who reside in long-term care through creative play and laughter. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of Laughter Care Specialists (LCSs) regarding families’ engagement with the program.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with LCSs (n = 8) and analyzed inductively using thematic analysis.

Family members were reported to initially have varied degrees of openness toward Laughter Care, but often become more accepting after observing positive engagement with the person with dementia. Family members were perceived to benefit from the program through witnessing the person with dementia enjoy joyous and light interactions, learn new ways of communicating and connecting with the person with dementia, and engage in positive interactions at end of life.

Laughter Care may provide family members with novel ways of communicating and connecting with people who have dementia at end of life as well as comfort into bereavement.

Preliminary evidence shows that discordance in stress experience, expression, and physiology (EEP) in adolescents is linked to depression, suicidal ideation (SI), non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and brain functioning. This study employs person-centered analysis to probe the relationship between stress responses, psychopathology, and neural patterns in female adolescents who are oversampled for engagement in NSSI.

Adolescent females (N = 109, ages 12–17) underwent a social stress test from which self-report measures of stress experience, observer ratings of stress expression, and physiological metrics of stress (via salivary cortisol) were obtained. Multi-trajectory modeling was employed to identify concordant and discordant stress EEP groups. Depressive symptoms, SI and attempt, NSSI engagement, frontal and limbic activation to emotional stimuli, and resting state fronto-limbic connectivity were examined in the EEP groups derived from the multi-trajectory models.

Four groups were identified, three of which demonstrated relatively concordant EEP and one which demonstrated discordant EEP (High Experience-High Expression-Low Physiology). Further, replicating past research, the High Experience-High Expression-Low Physiology discordant group exhibited higher depressive symptoms, SI, suicide attempt, and NSSI episodes (only for sensitivity analyses based on past year) relative to other EEP groups. No significant group differences in brain functioning emerged.

Results indicate that within-person, multi-level patterns in stress responding capture risk for dysfunction including depression and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Further interrogating of system-level stress functioning may better inform assessment and intervention efforts.

A growing number of studies are emphasizing the importance of positive and negative appraisals of caregiving and the utilization of social resources to buffer the negative effects of caring for persons with dementia. By assessing the roles of unmet needs and formal support, this study tested a hypothesized model for Korean family caregivers’ satisfaction and burden in providing care for persons with dementia.

The stress process model and a two-factor model were used as the conceptual framework for this study. Data for 320 family caregivers from a large cross-sectional survey, the Seoul Dementia Management study, were analyzed using structural equation modeling. In the hypothesized model, the exogenous variables were patient symptoms, including cognitive impairment, behavioral problems, and dependency on others to help with activities of daily living and with instrumental activities of daily living. The endogenous variables were the caregiver's perception of the unmet needs of the patient, formal support, caregiving satisfaction, and caregiving burden.

The adjusted model explained the mediating effect of unmet needs on the relationship between patient symptoms or formal support and caregiving satisfaction. Formal support also had a mediating effect on the relationship between patient symptoms and unmet needs. Patient symptoms and caregiving satisfaction had a significant direct effect on caregiving burden.

The level of unmet needs of persons with dementia and their family caregivers must be considered in the development of support programs focused on improving caregiving satisfaction.

The aim of this study is to develop and try out an approach for personalized nature activities for people with dementia.

A qualitative descriptive study using focus group interviews with people with dementia was conducted. Based on the results of the focus groups and the relevant literature, the approach was developed. In a qualitative descriptive pilot study with a one-group design, we tried out the approach regarding acceptability and experience of the intervention among people with dementia, and satisfaction with the approach among healthcare professionals. Additionally, we investigated the organizational feasibility.

From the focus groups, eight key aspects of experiencing nature were identified as being important for quality of life (e.g. relaxation, freedom), as well as six categories of preferred activities (e.g. active, passive, and social activities). Based on these themes and categories, an approach was developed to design nature activities according to the personal wishes, needs, and experiences of people with dementia. During the intervention, participants in the pilot study showed high levels of positive behaviors and low levels of negative behaviors. As regards, organizational feasibility, eight themes for successful implementation of nature activities were identified.

This exploratory study contributes to the knowledge regarding the development and implementation of person-centered nature activities for people with dementia. The implementation of the activities could be improved by training professionals in person-centered care. The effect of the person-centered nature activities approach should be investigated.