Jennie De Gagne, professor, contributed to the article "Feasibility of a Mobile Meal Assistance Program for Direct Care Workers in Long-Term Care Facilities in South Korea" for the Clinical Interventions in Aging journal. Co-author Dukyoo Jung was an international visiting scholar from 2019 to 2020.   

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and examine the preliminary effectiveness of a mobile application-based meal assistant training program (APP) for use by direct care workers (CAs) assisting residents with dementia in long-term care facilities in South Korea.

Methods: We adopted a mixed methods research design, which included a pre- and post-intervention study and focus group interviews for the feasibility assessment. Participants included 23 dyads of older adults with dementia and their CAs from a long-term care facility in South Korea. Upon completion of the APP intervention, focused group interviews were conducted with six CAs and five nurses.

Results: The results of paired t-tests showed that the effects of the APP intervention on the older adults with dementia and their CAs were not significant; however, the results of the focused group interviews support the potential usefulness of the APP for CAs.

Conclusion: The APP may be applicable to long-term care workers who need meal assistant skills education.

Citation

Jung D, De Gagne JC, Lee M, Lee H, Lee K, Choi E, Chung J. Feasibility of a Mobile Meal Assistance Program for Direct Care Workers in Long-Term Care Facilities in South Korea. Clin Interv Aging. 2020;15:2019-2029
https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S273934