Genre: Academic Theses

Publisher: California, Pa. : Pennsylvania Western University

Publication Date: 2025

Format: 1 online resource (1 dissertation (viii, 131 leaves)) text file PDF

Description:

Aggressive behaviors in dementia care settings significantly impact staff perceptions, patient interactions, and overall safety. This quality improvement project examined whether structured communication training, combined with the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI), influenced healthcare staff's perceptions of aggression in patients with dementia compared with no structured training or tool use. Guided by Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring and the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change, the project emphasized empathetic, patient-centered care and staff behavior change. A quasi-experimental pre-post design was implemented over six weeks in an acute care unit with a high population of dementia patients. Staff completed perception surveys before, during, and after the intervention to measure changes in confidence, recognition of behavioral triggers, and understanding of aggressive behaviors.