The Effectiveness of the Validation Method training in work satisfaction and motivation of nursing home care professionals is a quasi-experimental pilot study of the doctoral thesis of Iván Sánchez-Martínez.
This research was funded by the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants, of the Catalan Government, with grant number 2018 DI 050.
The increase in life expectancy and the higher prevalence of neurocognitive disorders means there is a need to improve and innovate non-pharmacological strategies in order to ensure the quality of life and well-being of older people and their caregivers.
As a neurocognitive disorder progresses, one of the challenges is to be able to maintain effective channels of communication to identify the needs and emotions of older people with dementia and therefore be able to offer optimal, quality and humanising care.
Care for people with dementia can cause difficulties for care professionals, increasing their levels of stress, discomfort and job dissatisfaction.
Among the nonpharmacological strategies, the validation method (VM), created by Naomi Feil in the 1960s, is a specific communication method for older people with dementia. Its is to help professionals build a bridge to the internal reality of the disoriented person using the method’s verbal and non-verbal techniques, an empathic attitude and observation.
This relationship built on empathy and authentic listening helps the disoriented older people to express themselves and create closer, deeper and trusting relationship with the professional, which facilitates and improves communication between them, providing the older person with value, recognition and authenticity.
At this point, this thesis project have the following objective:
- Analyze the effectiveness of the Validation Method training in work satisfaction and motivation of nursing home care professionals.
- Evaluate the influence of the training Bases of the Validation Method in
Self-efficacy, Perceive competence, Commitment organizational, Dementia attitudes and Burnout.
How we will achieve that?
This study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic (September 2020-February 2021), where a total of 31 nursing home professionals participated and who were assigned in two groups conditions; control group and experimental group. The experimental group who attended a 16-hour training on an introductory validation training, and a control group, who did not training. Measurements were made at T0 (before the training), T1 (after a week) and T2 (after 4 months) through standardized questionnaires and interviews.
We are convinced that the findings will have important implications for professional practice of caregivers of people with dementia.
Link our first article: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/1/201