What are innovative approaches?
Innovative approaches are inclusive participation methods that do not only rely on survey or interview, but instead adopt alternative or augmented communication, sensory, visual, arts-based and ethnographic methods to support voice for individuals with communication or cognitive disabilities (such as associated with dementia) (Phillipson & Hammond, 2018). Innovative approaches have significant potential to increase direct participation of people living with dementia in feedback and consultation, yet to date have been under-examined in residential aged care settings.
Despite the prevalence of dementia in residential aged care (estimated to be ~70% by the Royal Commission in Aged Care Quality and Safety), there remains a lack of evidence-based methods that support direct participation of people living with dementia in consultation and feedback processes. Current methods of aged care consultation generally rely on language based written survey and/or verbal interview, which is difficult for many people living with dementia. However, the right to ‘have your say’ in aged care consultation should not be reduced to whether a resident can fill in a ‘feedback form’. Methods of aged care consultation should not prioritise ‘intellectual’ (sight and hearing) over ‘instinctive’ (touch, taste and smell) senses (Lukić, 2023).
Innovative approaches include a range of supported and accessible communication methods to improve comprehension and expression, such as:
Easy Read - short, simple sentences, large text, and pictures to explain complex information
Talking Mats - a visual communication framework (physical or digital) which supports expression of feelings and views about a topic
Photo-voice - combines photography and narrative storytelling to visually document environments and experiences
Arts and sensory-based methods - such as body mapping, film-making, drama, and fine arts and crafting workshops.
References:
Lukic, D. (2023). Dementia as a material for co-creative art making: Towards feminist posthumanist caring. Journal of Aging Studies, 67, 101169.
Phillipson, L., & Hammond, A. (2018). More Than Talking: A Scoping Review of Innovative Approaches to Qualitative Research Involving People With Dementia. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17(1), 1609406918782784.
[Image source: Talking Mats, Stirling University]