Marte Meo Counselling: a promising tool to support positive interactions between residents with dementia and nurses in nursing homes

Abstract

Marte Meo Counselling (MMC) is an educational video-based counselling method developed to improve interactions between persons. This study aimed at investigating whether changes could be identified in the interactions between people with dementia and their nurses during morning care, following MMC. An intervention study based on video recordings before and after a MMC intervention was used. Thirteen nurses and 10 residents from six dementia-specific care units at six different institutions in Norway participated. Data were collected through video recording of six pairs (nurse and resident) in interaction before and after the staff received MMC. Four pairs participated as controls. The findings suggest that nurses who received MMC succeeded, to a greater degree than did the comparison nurses, in providing care consistent with promoting positive interactions. We found clearer indications of increased positive interactions and a reduction in inappropriate interactions in the intervention group. In the control group, the variation was greater, with both good and poor interactions present in the same cases. This study indicates that MMC can serve as a facilitator for positive interactions and can also lead to a reduction in inappropriate interactions. Further research is needed to evaluate the effect of MMC.