Gemma Goodall

Introduction: Despite the widespread promotion of inclusive learning environments, students with disabilities have to exert time and effort in gaining accommodations and proving themselves as competent individuals. In following up a factorial survey experiment that found that students with disabilities are considered less likely to achieve their educational goals compared to students without, this study explored how understandings of inclusive education and disability are constructed within Norwegian higher education institutions.Method: Nineteen employees across 10 universities participated in focus group interviews. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis.Results: Three themes were generated: (1) determining the role of the educator, (2) knowing how, when, and why to grant accommodations, (3) calling for action from the university.Discussion: Overall, the findings suggest that understandings of inclusion are ambiguous and characterized by juxtaposing ideals. The participants’ accounts illustrate how they are tasked with promoting inclusion while simultaneously protecting their respective professions. Thus, despite being considered a resource based on their diversity, students with disabilities are still expected to fit into an environment designed for mainstream learners. In discussing these findings in light of ableist theory, we argue that more action is needed on a systemic level to restructure how inclusive education is understood and practiced.

Despite the widespread promotion of inclusive environments within higher education, social barriers and a lack of understanding among university staff continue to hinder students with disabilities in their goals of graduating and finding employment. Using ableism as a theoretical framework, this study aimed to explore attitudes among higher education institution employees towards students with disabilities and their feasibility in different types of education and employment positions. “Employees” in this study included teaching staff, student support, and administration. We conducted a factorial survey experiment in which respondents were invited to evaluate vignettes describing fictional students with and without disabilities. Other factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, and motivation were also included in the vignettes. A total of 2157 higher education employees across Norway participated in the survey and answered four questions regarding the likelihood of the student described in the vignette graduating, finding employment, and being suitable for relevant work tasks. Additionally, respondents were asked to rate how likely it was that they could make arrangements for the student during their studies. Results from multilevel regression analyses suggest that higher education employees are generally positive towards making arrangements for students with disabilities. However, despite this, students with disabilities were considered less likely to graduate, find employment, and less suitable in performing relevant work tasks in comparison to students without disabilities. We argue that ableist expectations continue to dominate perceptions of students within academia, and until ableism is addressed at an institutional level, higher education will remain far from inclusive.

Despite legislation promoting equal opportunities for people with disabilities in education and employment, evidence suggests that these environments are far from inclusive. While there is a wealth of evidence on the barriers that people with disabilities face in both higher education and the workplace, there is currently a lack of literature that summarizes knowledge on the transition between these two settings. As such, this rapid systematic literature review aimed to identify barriers and facilitators in the transition from higher education to employment for students and graduates with disabilities. Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic search across three databases (PsycINFO, ERIC, and Web of Science) and included 59 studies for review. The included studies reported on research conducted across 20 countries, reporting on various types of disabilities and on different subject areas and professions. In addition to a quality appraisal, we performed a narrative synthesis on the included studies. From the synthesis, we identified numerous barriers and facilitators, and grouped them into seven themes: disclosure; attitudinal barriers and facilitators; accommodations, accessibility; institutional and organizational barriers and facilitators; discipline-specific barriers and facilitators; and disability-specific barriers and facilitators. Overall, findings suggest that students with disabilities must often work beyond their capacity in order to succeed in higher education and access opportunities for meaningful employment. Findings also suggest there is still much to be done in creating inclusive education and employment environments on an international level. Recommendations from this review include developing inclusive disclosure processes and providing education on disabilities for staff in both the education and labor sectors. Finally, we call for collaboration between higher education institutions, employment sectors, and students with disabilities.

Background: Person-centred care is widely recognised as important for helping people with dementia maintain a sense of self and purpose in life – especially for those living in care facilities. Despite this, most care practices still adopt a medical approach in which physical needs are prioritized over psychosocial well-being. Addressing the need to find ways of promoting person-centred approaches in care, this study explored care professionals’ reflections on a novel, technological intervention (SENSE-GARDEN) that combines multisensory stimuli and digital media to create personalized environments for people with dementia. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of care professionals who had used SENSE-GARDEN for approximately 1 year. Methods: Three care homes in Norway, Belgium, and Portugal and 1 hospital in Romania used the SENSE-GARDEN with residents/patients with moderate to severe dementia over the course of 1 year. Qualitative data - including observations and interviews with 2 care professionals - were collected at the beginning of the study period from the Norwegian care home to explore initial impressions of the new SENSE-GARDEN room. At the end of the study period, 8 care professionals across the 4 facilities were interviewed for an in-depth exploration of their experiences. The two sets of data were analysed separately through reflexive thematic analysis. Results: At the beginning of the study period, the staffs’ focus was mainly on the novelty of the new SENSE-GARDEN room and how it provided opportunities for meaningful experiences. Post-intervention, the care professionals provided reflective accounts on how care could be delivered in alternative ways to standard practice. The themes generated from the post-intervention interviews were: “shifting focus onto personalized care”, “building and fostering relationships”, and “continuous discoveries”. Through delivering person-centred care, the professionals reported a sense of purpose and achievement in their work. Conclusions: Professionals from care facilities across 4 different countries highlighted the value of interventions such as SENSE-GARDEN as a way of creating opportunities to better know people with dementia. Thus, they experienced improved relationships and greater job satisfaction. However, delivering person-centred interventions is time-consuming, and future research should evaluate the feasibility of sustaining them on a long-term basis.

Meaningful activities in dementia care can promote the co-construction of narrative identity in caregiving relationships, helping to preserve the sense of self in people with dementia. Purpose: Informed by symbolic interactionism and Deweyan transactionalism, the aim of this study was to develop a transactional model of how narrative identity and relationships are promoted through the use of a new technological solution, SENSE-GARDEN, that uses digital technologies and multisensory stimuli to facilitate individualized, meaningful activities. Method: We conducted a qualitative interview study to explore the experiences of people with moderate to advanced dementia and their caregivers in Norway and Portugal. After using SENSE-GARDEN for 12–16 weeks, 20 participants (7 persons with dementia and 13 caregivers) were interviewed. The interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Three themes were generated: openness, learning, and connection. Findings suggest that SENSE-GARDEN can stimulate emotional experiences, preserve narrative identity, and foster interpersonal relationships. These findings are illustrated through a transactional model. Conclusion: This study highlights the complex multitude of factors affecting person-environment interactions in which narrative identity and relationships are constructed. To better understand these factors, future work should adopt a holistic approach to studying new methods of creating meaningful activities in dementia care.

There is a growing interest in using technology to provide meaningful activities for people living with dementia. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and explore the different types of digital technologies used in creating individualized, meaningful activities for people living with dementia. From 1414 articles identified from searches in four databases, 29 articles were included in the review. The inclusion criteria were the study used digital technology to deliver an individually tailored activity to participants with dementia, the process of individualization was described, and findings relating to the mental, physical, social, and/or emotional well-being of the participant were reported. Data extracted from the included studies included participant demographics, aims, methods, and outcomes. The following information on the technology was also extracted: purpose, type, training, facilitation, and the individualization process. A narrative synthesis of the results grouped the various technologies into four main purposes: reminiscence/memory support, behavior management, stimulating engagement, and conversation/communication support. A broad range of technologies were studied, with varying methods of evaluation implemented to assess their effect. Overall, the use of technology in creating individualized, meaningful activities seems to be promising in terms of improving behavior and promoting relationships with others. Furthermore, most studies in this review involved the person with dementia in the individualization process of the technology, indicating that research in this area is adopting a more co-creative and inclusive approach. However, sample sizes of the included studies were small, and there was a lack of standardized outcome measures. Future studies should aim to build a more concrete evidence base by improving the methodological quality of research in this area. Findings from the review indicate that there is also a need for more evidence concerning the feasibility of implementing these technologies into care environments.

The Nordic Arts & Health Conference was held at the Clinical Research Centre in Malmö, Sweden on 21 May 2019. The conference was hosted by the Nordic Arts & Health Research Network, a recently launched network coordinated by Arts Academy, Turku University of Applied Sciences. The focus of the one-day conference was on arts and health practice, with the aim of bringing together researchers and practitioners working within the field of arts and health. The programme offered 19 sessions delivered by over 40 speakers from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom. This review comments on the sessions attended by the author and is therefore not a complete reflection of the day’s wide array of dynamic presentations, workshops and discussions. Sessions spanned across a wealth of topics such as sound arts, dance, theatre, literature, researcher and artist collaborations, evaluation and arts research pedagogy, and arts therapy.

Background: The number of people living with dementia is rapidly increasing. With dementia’s impact on memory, communication, and self-identity, it is important to identify ways of meeting individual needs of diagnosed individuals and their caregivers. This study will test a new intervention, SENSE-GARDEN, that integrates autobiographical music, films, pictures, and scents with innovative technology to create an immersive environment tailored specifically for the individual. Objective: The SENSE-GARDEN study is an Active Assisted Living Program–funded multicenter project. The primary objective of the study is to assess whether a personalized, innovative technology-based intervention can improve the well-being of older adults living with moderate to severe dementia. The study will also assess whether the intervention can improve coping and reduce burden in caregivers. Methods: A controlled before-after study design will be used. There will be 3 sites in 3 trial countries: Belgium, Norway, and Portugal. A total of 55 people with dementia (PWDs) will be recruited. All eligible participants for the study will be randomized into the intervention or control group. For the first three months of the study, all participants will receive the SENSE-GARDEN intervention. For the final month of the study, the intervention group will continue visits to the SENSE-GARDEN, and the control group will discontinue visits. A mixed-methods approach will be used, including the use of standardized outcome measures, quantitative physiological data, and qualitative interview data. Results: The trials commenced recruitment in August 2019, and all data are expected to be collected by the end of May 2020. A user-centered design process is underway, with results from the first phase of user interviews indicating that people with mild cognitive impairment, family caregivers, and professional caregivers consider the SENSE-GARDEN to be a potentially valuable tool in providing numerous benefits to dementia care. Feasibility testing of the SENSE-GARDEN has been completed and results are expected to be published in October 2019. Conclusions: Findings from the SENSE-GARDEN trials will provide insights into the use of technology for personalizing interventions to the PWD. This will have potential implications on not only dementia research, but it may also have influences on care practice. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/14096

BACKGROUND The number of people living with dementia is rapidly increasing. With dementia’s impact on memory, communication, and self-identity, it is important to identify ways of meeting individual needs of diagnosed individuals and their caregivers. This study will test a new intervention, SENSE-GARDEN, that integrates autobiographical music, films, pictures, and scents with innovative technology to create an immersive environment tailored specifically for the individual. OBJECTIVE The SENSE-GARDEN study is an Active Assisted Living Program–funded multicenter project. The primary objective of the study is to assess whether a personalized, innovative technology-based intervention can improve the well-being of older adults living with moderate to severe dementia. The study will also assess whether the intervention can improve coping and reduce burden in caregivers. METHODS A controlled before-after study design will be used. There will be 3 sites in 3 trial countries: Belgium, Norway, and Portugal. A total of 55 people with dementia (PWDs) will be recruited. All eligible participants for the study will be randomized into the intervention or control group. For the first three months of the study, all participants will receive the SENSE-GARDEN intervention. For the final month of the study, the intervention group will continue visits to the SENSE-GARDEN, and the control group will discontinue visits. A mixed-methods approach will be used, including the use of standardized outcome measures, quantitative physiological data, and qualitative interview data. RESULTS The trials commenced recruitment in August 2019, and all data is expected to be collected by the end of May 2020. A user-centered design process is underway, with results from the first phase of user interviews indicating that people with mild cognitive impairment, family caregivers, and professional caregivers consider the SENSE-GARDEN to be a potentially valuable tool in providing numerous benefits to dementia care. Feasibility testing of the SENSE-GARDEN has been completed and results are expected to be published in October 2019. CONCLUSIONS Findings from the SENSE-GARDEN trials will provide insights into the use of technology for personalizing interventions to the PWD. This will have potential implications on not only dementia research, but it may also have influences on care practice. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/14096