The 'Active Cues Magic Table' is a new game concept within nursing home care. It consists of light animations projected on a dining table and responding to movements of the players. The aim of this exploratory, quasi-experimental study was to examine the quality of life of nursing home residents with moderately severe or severe dementia before, during and after playing with this magic table. Quality of life was assessed with the Qualidem and the DS-DAT. Of the 34 nursing home residents included, 62% were female and mean age was 86.5 years (standard deviation 6.2). The Qualidem showed a small to moderate improvement in 'negative affect', 'restless tense behavior' and 'positive self-image' up to the week after playing (p ≤ 0.04). The DS-DAT showed a moderate improvement up to one hour after playing compared to a quarter of an hour before playing (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the quality of life of nursing home residents with moderately severe or severe dementia seems to improve up to the week after playing with the magic table. However, future research is needed to confirm the results of this exploratory study and to examine whether the improvements can truly be ascribed to the magic table.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Multisensory stimulation.