DID YOU KNOW THAT this is the third research study conducted in Finland?

KETOLA, KAARINA,

University of Tampere

From Person to Person; The effect of empowering guidance on elderly

January 2010

The object of the development project was to examine how the empowerment of older people can be advanced with proper guidance. The aim was to develop the project to be inclusive for the aging and thus to be an educational product that serves working life. It was approached by developing a cognitively activating process-like action model that would empower guidance of older people. People working with the elderly who work on the Development Project formed a steering group, which served as an expert group for process-like progress. The steering group's task was to think about the operatives and participation from the point of view of elderly people living independently at home, and those in sheltered housing in long- term care.

The development project was carried out as a qualitative action research. Data consisted of students' definitions of empowerment, lecture notes, the reflective logs written after their practical training situations and the collected group of out-puts. The customer perspective was the transcribed interviews and the literal feedback given to the students by the dementia unit nurses.

The collected data were analyzed by content analysis. When using empowering guidance to support the interaction of the elderly, notable results are the increase of communality and the increase of social well-being.

In conclusion, The TTAP-Method© can be stated to empower both the participants in group situations as well as those who lead them. Further research and development add needed on the method’s effectiveness and its connection with the reduction of behavioral symptoms.