Publication Date

Spring 2019

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Jean Neils-Strunjas (Director), Jason Crandall, Janice Smith, and Jo Shackelford

Degree Program

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

Individuals in certified nursing facilities (CNF) often experience social isolation and have limited opportunities to exercise. Bingocize®, an evidence-based healthpromotion program, is a combination of exercise and Bingo and provides opportunities for CNF resident interaction. Limited tools are available to quantify social engagement displayed by nursing home residents. Research suggests that intergenerational programming can positively affect social engagement. The present pilot study focused on the implementation of the Fun and Social Engagement (FUSE) evaluation to measure social engagement displayed by nursing home residents during Bingocize® sessions. The FUSE combined observation and self-report measures to yield a total social engagement score. Social engagement data were collected during Bingocize® sessions with university students interacting with residents and without student presence. Participants (M age = 82) included 35 residents from certified nursing facilities in Kentucky that receive funding from the Civil Money Penalty grant by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The purpose of this study was to determine if participants display increased positive social engagement during Bingocize® sessions when students are present versus when they are not, as well as if there is a difference between the participants’ self-report measure of engagement versus the observational report. Data were collected across four Bingocize® sessions, two with intergenerational programming and two without. Paired t-tests were conducted to determine overall participant engagement scores with and without student presence. Because of absenteeism, only two of the comparisons had a sufficient number of participants to analyze the effect of student presence. Comparing scores of the same residents, FUSE scores were higher in sessions with students present versus when students were not (p < .05). A two-sample t-test revealed that residents who reported happiness had higher observational scores than those who reported they were not happy. The results of this pilot study are tentative due to limited number of participants at some of the sessions. Future studies are needed to determine reliability of the FUSE. Nevertheless, this study suggests that the FUSE is a feasible tool for measuring fun and social engagement during Bingocize® and that university students have a positive effect on resident social engagement.

Disciplines

Communication Sciences and Disorders | Exercise Science | Speech Pathology and Audiology

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