Family members' narrated experiences of communicating via video-phone with patients with dementia staying at a nursing home

We studied the experience of family members who communicated via video-phones with elderly demented patients who were either staying at a home for temporary respite care or living in a nursing home. The study was based on qualitative data from seven interviews. The interviewees each had three or more months' experience with a video-phone. The open interviews were transcribed. Content analysis showed that videophone conversations made the relatives of patients at nursing homes more involved in the caring process and that conversation via the video-phone was a different way of communicating. Video-phone conversations with demented patients were in some cases more focused and of better quality than face-to face conversations. In most cases the video-phone conversations required the assistance of staff at the home in order to be meaningful. Video-phones have the potential to become useful tools for family members caring for elderly relatives.