Occupational therapy and dementia: The experience of an Alzheimer special care unit

Abstract This trial reports the outcomes of an occupational therapy (OT) program in a group of patients with moderately severe dementia, attending a day care center. Twenty-six patients were enrolled in this therapeutic program for a 12-month period. OT sessions were held for two hour a day, five da...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of gerontology and geriatrics 2007, Vol.44, p.49-54
Main Authors: Baldelli, M.V, Pradelli, J.M, Zucchi, P, Martini, B, Orsi, F, Fabbo, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Alzheimer Disease - therapy
Behavioral disorders
Cognition Disorders - diagnosis
Combined Modality Therapy
Day Care, Medical
Dementia - drug therapy
Dementia - therapy
Dementia in elderly
Female
Humans
Internal Medicine
Male
Mental Disorders - diagnosis
Mental Disorders - drug therapy
Mental Disorders - epidemiology
Multidimensional assessment
Neuropsychological Tests
Non pharmacological therapeutic programs
Occupational therapy
Occupational Therapy - methods
Prevalence
Psychotropic Drugs - therapeutic use
Restraint, Physical
Severity of Illness Index
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract This trial reports the outcomes of an occupational therapy (OT) program in a group of patients with moderately severe dementia, attending a day care center. Twenty-six patients were enrolled in this therapeutic program for a 12-month period. OT sessions were held for two hour a day, five days a week. The outcomes of the trial suggest that the introduction of OT and multidimensional assessment may improve management and mediate the psychophysical decline of persons with dementia. Indeed, the assessed performance indices remained relatively stable over time, as compared to the decline expected by the natural progression of disease. Moreover, behavioral disorders evaluated by the neuropsychiatric inventory (NPI) scores improved appreciably between treatment start and end. The day care center provides an opportunity for both the person with dementia and their family by optimizing therapy for the patient and providing medical assistance for morbid conditions that ensue during the course of disease and by lowering the burden of care and providing moral support for the family by a trained staff, with particular focus on behavioral disorders that are not amenable to pharmacological management.
ISSN:0167-4943
1872-6976
DOI:10.1016/j.archger.2007.01.007