Towards Enhanced Psychosocial Well-Being for Persons Living with Dementia: An Integrative Review of Meaningful Activities in Long-Term Care
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4108/eetpht.11.15346Keywords:
Meaningful activity, psychosocial well-being, non-pharmacological intervention, technology-mediated activity, dementia, engagementAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Meaningful engagement in clinical interventions or technology-mediated activities can support the psychosocial well-being of persons living with dementia. However, meaningfulness is often assumed rather than explicitly conceptualized in both academic context and in care practice.
OBJECTIVES: This review aims to examine how interventions and activity provision can support psychosocial well-being and how meaningful engagement is shaped by the conditions surrounding their provision, with particular attention to people with moderate and advanced dementia in long-term care facilities. METHODS: An integrative review was conducted through article searching in databases including PubMed, Scopus, and the ACM Digital Library dated from 2014 through 2025. In this review, 60 publications were synthesized for answering proposed objectives and questions.
RESULTS: We identified six activity forms and five recurring mechanisms through which activities acquire psychosocial value and are considered meaningful. The central finding is that meaningfulness is not an inherent property of an intervention or technology-mediated activity. It was shaped by the changing relationship between the person, activity, other stakeholders, and care environment. Activities are more likely to become meaningful when they connect with the person’s identity and retained abilities, permit supported forms of agency, are facilitated within responsive relationships and workable care routines.
CONCLUSION: This review advances a person-centered design agenda that shifts attention from isolated interventions toward activity-care ecosystems. It extends previous intervention- and technology-centered reviews by explaining how meaningful engagement can be co-produced, evaluated, and sustained in everyday dementia care.
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