Tea Group Intervention
What is a Tea Group Intervention?
The Tea Group is a structured program which benefits "Difficult" residents, and the staff who care for them. Tea Group sets up a carefully structured social experience which is almost universal: gathering to make, serve, and drink a beverage, in this case tea.
Important elements for a successful experience are:
- Adequate preparation in setting up the environment
- Adherence to the "ritual"
- Selecting the residents who are most likely to succeed
- Staff carrying over aspects of the social interaction created in the Tea Group into their daily instruction with residents in the neighborhood.
Purpose of the Program:
- To help very impaired "difficult" residents with dementia and staff who care for them, find some common ground to revitalize old social skills, encourage conversation, and establish a more positive relationship.
- The program strives to provide a social experience that promotes a sense of identity with the competent self rather than the sick-role self. It aims to establish a sense of community among a group of peers, in which they can exercise control and belonging, and a place to ventilate and resolve troublesome feelings. It responds to the needs of the "difficult" resident by providing an experience in which they can respond positively, and one that nursing facility staff can conduct on their own. It also supplies an in-house educational resource that will help staff gain a more positive and hopeful attitude about these residents.
