Old Television Favourites Still Entertaining

December 12, 2007

More Bugs Bunny and I Love Lucy. And please, turn off the news.

The findings of a research project into the television viewing behaviour of people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias may reveal important clues for improving quality of life.

The researchers focused on three questions: whether some shows are more engaging than others, how past television viewing behaviour is related to current viewing behaviour and whether the level of dementia is related to level of engagement.

“Television viewing is a frequent activity for many individuals,” said Dr. Bob Heller, Chair of the Centre for Psychology at Athabasca University, who was one of the principal investigators. “For older people, television is an important source of information, entertainment and substitute companionship. Although television occupies a prominent place in long term care facilities, it is not clear how engaging it is for individuals with Alzheimer disease.”

Residents of McConnell Place West, an Alzheimer care centre in Edmonton, were videotaped as they watched five different kinds of video programs. Engagement was measured by recording how long they watched and how much they watched. The shows included a news program, episodes of I Love Lucy and Bugs Bunny cartoons from the mid-1950s, a commercial program called Video Respite designed to engage people with dementia and a children’s program called Blue’s Clues.

Heller is quick to point out that the cartoons were not meant to treat viewers as children. Instead, they were used to examine whether specific program features associated with cartoons could be used to create age-appropriate programs for people with cognitive impairment.

By using picture-in-picture technology, the preliminary research is able to present the program that viewers were watching and their reactions to it on the same screen.

Researchers found some evidence from the look duration that the cartoons were most engaging. This may have occurred because children’s programs and cartoons generally have less information to be processed (e.g. simple dialogue, brighter colours, minimal backgrounds, simple plots, fewer camera shots) and thus fall closer within a resident’s span of comprehension. The research indicated that news programs were the least engaging compared to all other videos.

The average look durations also indicated greater engagement for I Love Lucy compared to the news. The researchers also found that past viewing behaviours and level of cognitive impairment were unrelated to engagement as measured in the current study.

“Although more research needs to be conducted, these preliminary findings suggest that some programming features could be used to produce age-specific programs that could be very engaging and satisfying to residents with dementia,” Heller said. “We also hope the findings will enable staff at continuing care centres to select video programming that is cognitively-appropriate and builds on the strengths and capabilities of residents with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.”

The other co-principal investigators on the research are Dr. Bonnie Dobbs, Associate director of the Rehabilitation Research Centre, University of Alberta, and Laurel Strain, Director, Alberta Centre on Aging, University of Alberta. The study was funded by the Capital Care Group Foundation. The Capital Care Group runs three Alzheimer care centres including McConnell Place West. Seventy per cent of their clients are dealing with one or more forms of dementia.

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Updated August 21, 2012