The public defence will be held as a video conference over Zoom.
The defence will follow regular procedure as far as possible, hence it will be open to the public and the audience can ask ex auditorio questions when invited to do so.
Click here to participate in the public defence
Due to copyright reasons, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. In order for the faculty to have time to process the order, it must be received by the faculty no later than 2 days prior to the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. Inquiries regarding the thesis after the public defence must be addressed to the candidate.
Digital Trial Lecture – time and place
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor of Care of Older People JPH (Jan) Hamers, Maastricht University
- Second opponent: Professor Helle Wijk, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Anners Lerdal, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Researcher Anne Kari Tolo Heggestad, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor Siren Eriksen, Nasjonal kompetansetjeneste for aldring og helse
Summary
The number of people with dementia is increasing in Norway, and there is a need to expand the health care services for this target group. Day care services provide people with dementia with opportunities to engage in meaningful activities within a safe setting, enhance their quality of life, and offer respite to their next of kin. Farm-based day care (FDC) have been provided as an additional day care service to address the care needs and the diversity of the population of people with dementia. However, the knowledge on this topic is sparse.
The main objective of the thesis was to gain knowledge about FDC service and people with dementia who attend FDC in Norway. Data was collected through questionnaires, standardized assessment forms and in-depth interviews.
FDC services have similarities to regular day care in organisation and the presence of personnel with health care education. However, there are more men and the participants are younger than in ordinary day care. The range of activities provided at the farm allowed the providers to individualise the service in accordance with each participant’s care needs, and the service at FDC is consistent with person-centred care. The participants described the activities at the farm as meaningful and emphasised social relationships and spending time outdoors in nature to be important aspects. Time spent outdoors was found to contribute positively to the participants quality of life. FDC appeared as a stable service over time as long as the participants continued to live in their own homes.
FDC contribute in meeting the variety in the population of people with dementia and appears as a complementary service for the target group. Several components of the FDC service contributed to participants quality of life and may have transfer value to other services for people with dementia. Focus on quality of life is important in a disease such as dementia, where there is no curative treatment.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.