NEW YORK: Video chatting with relatives over the internet may reduce the risk of nursing home residents with dementia becoming agitated or aggressive, according to research.
Researchers in a pilot study randomly assigned skilled nursing dementia patients to take part in four 20-minute conversations with a family member, conducted either via a landline phone or as video calls via Skype. The calls occurred over the course of two weeks. A discreetly positioned research assistant recorded each resident’s level of agitated behaviour for the 40 minutes before and during each conversation.
Results showed conversations lasted longer via Skype compared to the audio-only calls. Participants also displayed less agitation during the Skype calls.