Paper
Thursday, July 22, 2004
This presentation is part of : Long-Term Care
Effects of the BACE Intervention on Agitation of Demented Residents in Long-Term Care
Christine Kovach, PhD, College of Nursing, College of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA
Learning Objective #1: Describe daytime activity and levels of arousal imbalance of people with dementia in long-term care
Learning Objective #2: Explain the BACE intervention and its effectiveness in decreasing agitation of people with dementia
Objective:The Model of Imbalance in Sensoristasis (MIS) suggests that agitated behaviors may be initiated or exacerbated when there is an imbalance between sensory stimulating and sensory claming activity. This study tests the effectiveness of the BACE (i.e. Balancing Activity Controls Excesses) intervention in decreasing agitation in residents of long term care with dementia.

Design:A pretest posttest double-blinded experimental design with random assignment to groups was used. Subjects were randomly assigned to study groups in time blocks of one week in order to eliminate the possibility that activity of a subject in one group would influence activity of a subject in another group. Time blocks were also randomized as treatment or control condition weeks.

Sample: Seventy-eight residents of 13 long-term care facilities who had moderate or severe dementia were studied.

Intervention:The BACE intervention consists of an assessment phase (12 hour observation of activity and agitation), planning phase (diagnose imbalances in sensoristasis and reconfigure daily schedule), and an intervention/posttesting phase (adjust schedule and repeat 12 hour observation).

Results:Analysis of covariance revealed a statistically significant difference in agitation between the treatment and control groups (F = 7.07, p < .01).

Conclusions:The BACE intervention is original, relatively simple to implement, and cost-effective. The results of this study have the potential to change practice by offering a new intervention for the prevention and treatment of agitation.

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Sigma Theta Tau International
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