Factors Associated With Function-Focused Care Among Hospitalized Older Adults With Dementia

Background: Function-focused care is an approach used to increase physical activity in hospitalized older adults with dementia.

Objective: To explore factors associated with participation in function-focused care in this patient population.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study using baseline data from the first 294 participants in an ongoing study on testing function-focused care for acute care using the evidence integration triangle. Structural equation modeling was used for model testing.

Results: The mean (SD) age of the study participants was 83.2 (8.0) years, and the majority were women (64%) and White (69%). Sixteen of the 29 hypothesized paths were significant and explained 25% of the variance in participation in function-focused care. Cognition, quality of care interactions, behavioral and psychological symptoms associated with dementia, physical resilience, comorbidities, tethers, and pain were all indirectly associated with function-focused care through function and/or pain. Tethers, function, and quality of care interactions were all directly associated with function-focused care. The χ2/df was 47.7/7, the normed fit index was 0.88, and the root mean square error of approximation was 0.14.

Conclusion: For hospitalized patients with dementia, the focus of care should be on treating pain and behavioral symptoms, reducing the use of tethers, and improving the quality of care interactions in order to optimize physical resilience, function, and participation in function-focused care.