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@ARTICLE{Knecht:277798,
author = {Knecht, Hanna L and Rodriguez, Francisca S},
title = {{S}ocial interactions in dementia: perceptions of current
situation and opportunities.},
journal = {BMC geriatrics},
volume = {25},
number = {1},
issn = {1471-2318},
address = {London},
publisher = {BioMed Central},
reportid = {DZNE-2025-00476},
pages = {202},
year = {2025},
abstract = {Social interactions can have a beneficial effect on people
with dementia (PWD). However, little is known about the
details of social interactions in dementia, information that
is useful for planning social interventions. The aim of our
study was to gain a deeper insight, provided by people in
dementia care, into (i) the characteristics of social
interactions of PWD, (ii) which social interactions are
considered as particularly important, (iii) how important
social interactions are perceived, and (iv) what is
perceived to increase social interactions among
PWD.Responses of 501 people in dementia care (mostly family
and professional caregivers; more than three-quarters
female; average age 53.5 years) provided in a structured,
quantitative survey were included in this analysis.
Descriptive analyses were conducted.The majority of PWDs'
social interactions take place in their home or day care and
arise from support services as well as organized activities.
More than half of the participants perceived singing,
telling life stories, or moving together (e.g., walking,
dancing) as valuable social interactions that PWD benefit
from in many ways. Positive effects (e.g., aggression,
depression, positive emotions, activation) are mainly
perceived for social interactions such as laughing together,
touch, hugging, simply being together, or being involved in
daily activities. Overall, participants rated social
interactions as rather important for the course of the
symptoms. A fixed social contact besides the primary
caregiver and offers from the community, associations, and
religious institutions are considered rather important in
increasing the social interactions of PWD.Simple social
interactions of PWD such as laughing, eating or singing
together that can be realized in the home environment and in
the context of organized caregiving activities are perceived
most valuable. Enhancing social interactions, especially
beyond the primary caregiving context, may be valuable for
those living with dementia.},
keywords = {Humans / Female / Dementia: psychology / Male / Aged /
Social Interaction / Middle Aged / Aged, 80 and over /
Caregivers: psychology / Interpersonal Relations / Adult /
Alzheimer’s (Other) / Dementia (Other) /
Non-pharmacological (Other) / Psychosocial (Other) / Social
health (Other) / Social integration (Other) / Social
medicine (Other)},
cin = {AG Rodriguez},
ddc = {610},
cid = {I:(DE-2719)1510900},
pnm = {353 - Clinical and Health Care Research (POF4-353)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-353},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
pubmed = {pmid:40148765},
doi = {10.1186/s12877-025-05850-8},
url = {https://pub.dzne.de/record/277798},
}