| The movement to create home-like environments for persons with dementia reflects the conceptual shift toward recognizing the person with dementia rather than just the disease. Consistent with this person-centered care, the present study applied the theory of personhood (Kitwood, 1993) and the concept of the person-environment fit (Lawton, 1983) to reframe wandering behavior in dementia as a form of movement through space. This study explored how interactions between personal and environmental characteristics impact the experience and use of space among 10 residents living in a unit for persons with dementia. Researchers installed multisensory stimuli within one hallway of this unit with the aim of fostering pro-social, positive engagement among residents. Multisensory stimuli were categorized as either familiar (e.g., video of babies playing) or novel (e.g., colored gel tiles) and as primarily engaging visual or tactile senses.;A single-subject, ABACA withdrawal design was used to examine residents' duration of time and ways of engaging with stimuli during intervention phases (stimuli present) versus baseline (stimuli absent). Results showed that a minority of residents used the hallway space and even fewer engaged with stimuli, partly because few residents lived along this hallway. Staff played a crucial role in residents' engagement with stimuli.;The behavioral profiles of the three residents who used these stimuli most frequently revealed several themes about the importance of considering both residents' and staff members' unique and shared experiences within this hallway space. Residents appeared to show preferences for stimuli that seemed to fit with their personal preferences and functional/cognitive abilities. Staff mediated residents' brief engagement with stimuli, providing positive, pro-social moments of joining between staff and residents.;This study demonstrated the importance of conceptualizing the personhood of both residents and staff members beyond the level of personal characteristics (e.g., their sense of time, use of home/work space) in order to provide a deeper level of person-centered care. Moreover, results from this exploratory study suggested that the construct of the person-environment fit needs to consider the multiple interactions between the resident with dementia, their care provider(s), and their objective and subjective experiences of this shared care environment. |
