Integration Between Learning, Body and Emotions (I-ACE)

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of training on non-pharmacological therapies (NPT) for people with dementia (PWD) on professional caregivers burnout and well-being in the relationship between caregivers and people with dementia (PWD) living in nursing home.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Does I-ACE training, that includes a training in the emotional-behavioral reading of body language and the recognition of one's own emotions and those of others, reduces professional caregiver burnout?
* Does I-ACE training improves the ability to understand and respond to the emotions of the other starting from the signals expressed by the eyes, the activation of the predisposition to the relationship in terms of increase of salivary oxytocin, the sense of competence of the carers, the ethical climate at the workplace and the quality of life of the resident perceived by the team?

Participants will attend twenty-two sessions:

two theoretical meetings on dementia and NPT; ten supervision meetings on the methodology for implementing non-pharmacological therapies based on discussions of cases; ten meetings on the exploration of the bodily aspects involved in the relationship through theatrical exercises. The same cases will be re-discussed in the light of the body-emotional approach.

Researchers will compare the I-ACE group with an active control group and an usual care control group to see if there are improvements in term of professional caregivers burnout, their ability to understand and respond to the emotions of PWD, increase of their levels of salivary oxytocin, sense of competence of the carers, the ethical climate at the workplace and the quality of life of the resident perceived by the team.

Conditions

• Burnout, Professional
• Dementia
• Quality of Life

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

I-ACE training

The I-ACE training encompasses a training on the non-pharmacological therapies' methodology and a training on awareness of body language which favors a passage from implicit to explicit knowledge. It allows the reading of the subjective relational experience of the care situation by the professional caregiver and a comparison of shared readings of the situation itself by the group of colleagues, and with the residents. Participants will follow: Two sessions, each lasting 4 hours, on theoretical introduction to the non-pharmacological therapies' methodology; Ten monthly supervisions, each lasting one and half hours, on discussion of clinical cases and implementation of the non-pharmacological therapies with person with dementia. Ten monthly supervisions, each lasting two hours, on theatrical exercises guided by an expert actor, with the help of a psychologist-psychotherapist who promotes understanding and awareness of self-reading in the relationship with the other.

OTHER

Standard non-pharmacological therapies (NPT) training

The standard NPT training encompasses a training on the non-pharmacological therapies' methodology. Participants will follow: Two sessions, each lasting 4 hours, on theoretical introduction to the non-pharmacological therapies' methodology; Ten monthly supervisions, each lasting one and half hours, on discussion of clinical cases and implementation of the non-pharmacological therapies with person with dementia.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Associazione Ginco Ticino

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Rita Pezzati, Professor · Ginco Ticino Association

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-02-08

Primary Completion

2024-08-30

Completion

2025-02-28

Countries

• Switzerland

Study Locations