Effectiveness of a nurse-led digital reminiscence program on social interaction, affect and engagement in residential dementia care: a quasi-experimental study

Digital reminiscence therapy (DRT) shows promise in dementia care, but evidence on social and affective outcomes in long-term care settings remains limited. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 60 residents with dementia (Global Deterioration Scale stages 4–5) from two long-term care facilities. The intervention group received 12 nurse-led DRT sessions over six weeks, while the control group received usual care. Primary outcomes included social interaction, observable affect, and engagement, assessed at baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1), and four-week follow-up (T2) using linear mixed-effects models. The intervention group showed improved engagement, positive affect, and social interaction compared with the control group across the study period. Improvements in engagement and positive affect were of large magnitude, while communication outcomes showed moderate-to-large effects. No clear changes were observed in global quality of life, although improvements were identified in the QoL-AD domains of personal relationships and meaningful activities. Nurse-led DRT appears to be a feasible psychosocial intervention associated with improved social and affective outcomes in residential dementia care. These findings support the potential value of structured, digitally supported reminiscence in routine nursing practice, although confirmation in larger and more diverse samples is still needed. Keywords: digital reminiscence therapy; dementia; nursing-led intervention; social interaction; engagement; affect; long-term care; quasi-experimental.