Time Investment for Program Implementation to Manage Neuropsychiatric Symptoms: An Observational Longitudinal Study in In-Home and Residential Care Settings

BACKGROUND: There are no studies on how the same psychosocial dementia care program is adapted to both in-home and residential care settings. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the time investment required by professionals to implement a psychosocial dementia care program to manage neuropsychiatric symptoms. METHODS: A prospective observational study design was used. The program consisted of 1) a one-day training course, 2) three interdisciplinary discussion meetings in five months, and 3) a web-based tool for the continued assessment of neuropsychiatric symptoms. Care professionals implemented the intervention in in-home (19 in-home care management agencies and 14 multiple in-home service providers) and residential care settings (19 group homes and eight nursing homes) in Japan from October 2019 to February 2020. The level of neuropsychiatric symptoms for the participants was evaluated using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI: 0–144). The time investment was reported by participating professionals. A total of 125 persons with dementia were included at baseline. RESULTS: Neuropsychiatric symptoms were significantly decreased at the final follow-up in all types of providers (Cohen’s d(rm) = 0.44–0.61). The mean (SD) time required for the five-month implementation was 417.9 (219.8) minutes. There was a mean (SD) decrease of 8.6 (14.0) points in the total NPI score among the 103 persons with completed interventions. The time investment was significantly lower in in-home care management agencies than in group homes, and lower in follow-ups than at baseline assessment. CONCLUSION: The program implementation may incur a substantial time investment regardless of setting. An additional benefit scheme to reward the time investment would be helpful to encourage implementation until the follow-ups.