Television Viewing and People With Dementia Living in Long-Term Care

Although televisions are commonplace in many long-term care facilities for people with dementia, little research has been done on the possible effects of television viewing on residents’ behaviors. The authors’ study aims were to document observable behaviors and activities of residents before, during, and after viewing television programs and to determine whether programs had an observable effect on behaviors. The authors enrolled 22 residents in a residential dementia care facility (4 to 5 people in each of the five residential wings). Two raters completed systematic observations for 5 consecutive days at baseline, during the presentation of eight television programs, and for 30 minutes following the program. The authors found that “dozing” was the most common activity during program viewing. In addition, many participants remained in the television area, “watching” a blank television screen in the 30 minutes following the program viewing. Further investigation on television’s effect on sleep or participation in other social activities is needed.