THIRD PUBLISHED STUDY ON THE TTAP METHOD, IN FINLAND

ABSTRACT

Tampere University of Applied Sciences Master's Degree in the Field of Social and Health Care
Degree programme in Health Promotion
Care of Ageing and Long-term Patients

KETOLA, KAARINA
From person to person. The effect of empowering guidance on elderly
Thesis 76 pages, Appendices 5 pages.
February 2010

The object of the development project was to examine how the empowerment of older people can be advanced with structured activity approach and educational guidance through the use of Therapuetic Thematic Arts Programming (TTAP Method©). 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 operativity and participation from three areas of care; those elderly living independently at home, those in sheltered housing and those living in long- term care facilites
.
The development project was carried out as a qualitative action research. Data consisted of students' definitions of empowerment, lecture notes, the refective logs writen 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 in communal closeness of all three sectors and the increase of social well-being.

In conclusion, The TTAP-Method© can be stated to empower both the participants in group situations of all three areas of aging 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. More research is also needed on the usability of empowering in the goal-oriented rehabilitation of those with memory disorders.

Keywords: TTAP METHOD, dementia, empowering guidance, aged, reflection, memory disease